


Tea with Milk

by notsugarandspice



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Bev, Barista! Eddie, British! Eddie, Eddie is from England, Engineer! Richie, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nerd! Richie, Reddie, Richie and Eddie don't know each other, Richie is an anxious dork deal with it, Richie is pansexual, Sexual Content, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, everyone's either gay or bi, no pennywise fuck him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-03-17 00:02:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13647183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsugarandspice/pseuds/notsugarandspice
Summary: Eddie leaves the grip of his obsessive mother and moves from England to go to college in New York. In his Junior year, he finally gets a job and has a clearer idea of what he wants out of life. It takes meeting someone who turns your life upside down to know what you want, apparently.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, I started another monster fic! What is wrong with me?! No, but seriously, why am I like this? I have 300 responsibilities, and I just had this idea, and it jumped straight out of my head on the page. I wanted to write a modern AU for a while, and here it is. I hope you enjoy!

Edward Kaspbrak walked into his dorm room, the fresh scent of lemongrass enveloping his senses. He smiled softly at an image of Michael Hanlon’s duffel bag thrown carelessly on the bed and his football uniform on the floor under the window. Their room was unnecessarily spacious – they were supposed to have a third roommate join in, but the guy apparently failed his final exam and wasn’t allowed to continue at New York University. The two young men now had three twin beds merged together as a large king, and they wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Eddie, the insane neat freak that he is, was the one to decorate their dorm and keep it in check. Mike was almost never there because of the football practice and gardening club, so the small boy took it upon himself to take care of their humble abode and make sure that everything was up to his standards (since Mike could care less). 

Now that it was Eddie’s Junior year in college, he was a bit surer of what he wanted to do, and his Undecided major became Marketing, but not without English as his minor. What he was most excited about was finally getting a job: ever since he moved away from a small town under London and escaped his demonic mother, he painfully wanted to get a work permit. After two years of figuring out how to make that happen without involving his mother and getting thrown out of the country by IRS, he landed a spot as a barista at Starbucks on campus. Turns out, being an international student and all, it was much easier to find a job AT your university, but since the only other place Eddie would work at was a bookstore, and that one didn’t have any openings, he took a job at a café, not minding the smell of pastries on the daily.

It was Friday afternoon, and Eddie had a shift in less than an hour, so he decided to take a nap for thirty minutes before changing into his uniform. He softly closed the baby pink curtains to make the room as dark as possible and let his head fall on the pillow, covering himself with a cozy white throw that Mike gave him on his last birthday. He took the phone out of the pocket of his jean shorts and set a timer for 30 minutes before settling in and closing his eyes to the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

 

* * *

 

Eddie was making his way to work, holding a bright green apron with a black hat in one hand and his rose gold iPhone in another, texting Mike about their plans for the night:

**E:** _Hey, I was thinking of going to that bar on 5 th Avenue that I showed you last weekend. Would you like to join?_

Mike responded almost immediately:

**M:** _heyyy Eddie! <3 yeah yeah let’s do it, man!_

Eddie smiled at the red heart emoji and figured he doesn’t have to respond because he had the ‘read’ function on, and Mike almost always met him after work anyway. He pocketed the phone in the back pocket of his khaki shorts, letting the time 4:50 stay in front of his eyes. _I need to learn to walk faster._

He opened the door of the café, entering from the outside, and made his way straight to the back door, smiling at his co-worker Luna who was fishing a chocolate croissant out of the display. He quickly made his way to the mirror and put the black hat on before neatly tying the apron around his petite form. Eddie smiled at himself in the mirror before coming up to his manager Audra who was filling out something boring on the computer.

“Hi, Audra. Do you mind if I clock in?” he said, pointing at the computer that she was intensely staring at.

“Oh, sure thing, darling! I was just trying to put all of your hours in this Excel spreadsheet, but I can’t for the life of me, figure out these applications,” she said rolling her eyes, and quickly standing up to let Eddie in front of the computer.

Eddie really liked Audra – she was old enough to be his mom, but she had a soul of a teenager, and something about her beautiful auburn hair reminded him of Amy Adams who he was pretty sure was the most attractive female on the planet. Also, she was the only other English person that he’s met in this university, and he knew that it was probably the only reason he got this job to begin with.

He sat down on the chair and opened the main screen to put in his username and password for the clock-in. He waited a couple of seconds for the time 4:59 PM to pop out and closed the page, taking it back to the Excel application. Audra winked at him playfully before sitting down, her brows furrowing instantly at the collection of gibberish before her.

Eddie pushed out the black door to get out front and almost bumped into Luna putting a sandwich into the oven, who just rolled her eyes, her face a little red with irritation.

“You won’t believe the dick that I just had at the register. I’m out here alone with 5 people in line, and he told me I should hurry up. I mean, what the fuck?!” hissed Luna, desperately trying to keep her voice down.

Eddie looked over her shoulder to peep at the bald man whose face screamed ‘murder’ and ‘caffeine-addict’ before leaning his body back on the wall next to the oven. He touched her shoulder affectionately, and she visibly relaxed, breathing out the shaky anger.

“You know how it is. Just picture yourself stabbing him with a searing hot knife, and you instantly relax. Okay?” asked Eddie smiling at his friend playfully, and making his way to the register after the girl snorted and nodded.

Eddie got to the screen at the register and put his employee ID in before lifting his head to meet the eyes of a painfully attractive stranger, his brown eyes framed by bright yellow glasses. He was much taller than Eddie, and he felt himself craning the neck to meet his eyes. Eddie felt a heat flash from the top of his head to his toes. _Keep it cool, Edward._

“What can I get for you, sir?” said Eddie, instantly regretting the last word at the way the stranger’s face split into the widest grin he’s ever seen. It made his stomach feel funny.

“First of all, please tell me that was a staged accent because I CANNOT handle you actually being British. Also, did you just call me ‘sir’? said the stranger, his voice a bit hoarse but incredibly pleasant.

“Not staged and yes, I did. Now, what would you like? There are people behind you,” said Eddie, feeling himself flush again.

“Do you talk to all your customers like that, um…” the tall boy looked at Eddie’s name tag that was written in a pretty pastel pink cursive, the heart drawn instead of the dot above ‘i’, “Eddie… Fuck, that suits you so well,” said Richie now grinning even more ( _if that was fucking possible),_ and Eddie couldn’t help but notice how his voice was basically dripping honey when he said his name.

“Only the snarky flirts who take a bloody long time to place an order. Guessing by your ‘bad boy’ persona, you’d like a black drip, no sugar, no milk?” asked Eddie, raising an eyebrow in flirty mocking.

“Bad boy persona? Holy shit, am I in heaven? And no, Eds, you got it all wrong – I’ll have a Trenta Strawberry Açai please, light on the ice. Make sure to write your number on the cup, cutie,” said the tall boy, winking at Eddie and reaching out his black iPhone 8 Plus with the Starbucks app open. _He has beautiful hands._

“Don’t fucking call me that,” said Eddie, blushing feverishly now, reaching out a scanner to charge the attractive stranger.

“Alrighy-o, feisty one,” said the tall man, smiling at Eddie with a full mouth.

“Name?” asked Eddie, picking out the largest plastic cup and taking out a Sharpie from the where it was magnetized to the screen.

“Damn, Eds, take the guy out first-“

“Don’t-“

“Richie. My name’s Richie,” said the boy, observing Eddie’s face as he was writing the name on the cup.

Eddie put the cup to the side for Luna to make and said ‘next customer’ loudly, forcing Richie to move to the left side where the awaited beverages were collected. He stepped behind the counter with a large coffee machine, leaning his elbows on the railing and observing the small boy that made his stomach tickle. He noticed the way his brown curls poked out of the hat, the soft rosy color in his cheeks, and the way his eyes twinkled when he rose them up to speak to the customer in front of him. _Those fucking eyes._ Richie was sure that he has only seen humans this perfect in drawings. He quickly realized that he has to come to this Starbucks much more often from now on.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, he heard a nice girly voice call out ‘Richard’, and he felt himself grinning wide when he reached out to take it from the brunette’s hand. He turned the cup filled with rosy liquid to look at the writing and saw large letters spelling out his full name, and a heart where a dot for the ‘i’ should be. Instead of the number, the cute boy wrote ‘1-800-YOU-WISH’. _But I do. I so fucking do._ Richie couldn’t wait to tall Bev and Stan about his new favorite barista.

 


	2. Torah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie tells his roommates about a boy he met.

Stan was bird-watching by the window of his New York City apartment with a notebook propped up on his knees, holding huge baby blue binoculars (that Richie bought and painted for him) when he heard the front door slam with a force that made him fall from the windowsill. He quickly recovered, shaking his head and shot an evil glare at the only person who could do such a thing. Richie was making his way to help Stan up, one hand on the mouth to suppress giggles but stopped in his tracks when the curly blond threw his hand out in a stopping motion.

“Don’t even come close to me,” said Stanley, leaning his hand on one of the knees to get up. 

“Awh, Stan the Man, but I was gonna be a gentleman and help the damsel up,” said Richie grinning, sipping on his drink.

“There’s as much gentle in you as there is in a sumo wrestler. Also, I almost dropped your binoculars,” Stan realized that it would actually upset him a lot for Richie’s present to break, but it’s not like he would ever tell him.

“What an atrocity! I shall force thy to deliver a fatal blow to thee,” screamed Richie, flailing his arms around as if he performed on a stage of British opera house.

“You should really watch at least one British film before speaking in that accent.”

“Speaking of British, Stanley the Manly. I actually have something to tell you. Is Bev here?” asked Richie clutching the now empty plastic cup that had wet strawberries and ice rattling inside, an excited expression plastered on his face.

“Maybe, I don’t know. Not your babysitter,” said Stan grumpily, making his way back to the windowsill.

“Gee, man, you HAVE to get laid, _pronto_!” said Richie and ran off in the direction of Bev’s room before he could get smacked by Stanley, throwing the empty plastic cup in the trashcan as he passed the kitchen. 

Richie walked into Beverly’s room, didn’t see her there, and he decided to go to his room to text her to get to the apartment as soon as possible. He pulled out his phone as he was opening his door and was about to send her a message when he saw the red-headed menace laying on his bed, reading a book and smoking. Beverly was leaning on her elbows and holding the _Fifty Shades of Grey_ paperback in one hand, and a cigarette in another. She was wearing red underwear that looked like shorts but barely actually covered her butt and a black t-shirt, her bare legs falling down on the bed periodically as she dangled them up and down. She always walked around like that, since both Stan and Richie were like brothers to her, even if she only met them their Sophomore year in college. And since Richie was completely uninterested in her, and Stan was super gay, her constant lack of clothes didn’t bother them.

“Marsh, you dirty hoe, of course, you’re reading _Fifty Shades_!” yelled Richie, plopping down on the bed next to Bev.

Beverly wasn’t startled one bit and took a long drag before looking at her best friend. “Oh, shut up. I literally found this in your room,” smirked Bev, reaching out a cigarette to Richie to take a drag from.

Richie made an offended face and took a long drag, finishing the cigarette. “My dear Bev, this is quite literally the epitome of good literature. Who doesn’t want to read _Twilight_ with smut?” said Richie winking before he reached to the floor to light a new cigarette.

“You know I agree, but don’t tell Stanley we’re reading this. He might just actually evict us,” said Bev sitting down and crossing her legs, putting the book on the floor.

“I betcha he’d like these books more than we do,” said Richie winking, lying down on his back and puffing smoke into the ceiling. “What are you doing in my room anyway?”

“You have the only room in the whole apartment that doesn’t have the smoke detector. Plus, I kinda ran out of cigarettes, so I found these in your bedside drawer,” she said, pointing at the drawer by his bed that had almost ten lighters of different colors in there.

“I did have one, I just took it down as soon as I moved in and put that shit there instead,” he pointed the cigarette at the poster of the last _Harry Potter_ film that was plastered on the ceiling over the spot the smoke detector should be.

“Yeah, because putting Potter’s face on that spot is sooo defiant,” she rolled her eyes playfully, and he shoved her knee, causing Bev to stumble backward, legs tied together like a pretzel.

“Oh my fucking God, Bev!” Richie suddenly sat up, remembering what he wanted to tell his friends. “I have something monumental to tell you!” he smashed the cigarette onto the wall above his headboard and ran out into the hallway again, making his way towards Stan. 

“ _Schmegegge_ ,” said Stan loudly as binoculars almost flew out of his hands again, barely catching them by a string.

Richie plopped himself onto the couch and looked at Stanley excitedly, watching how the curly blond was trying his hardest not to smile. “You know I’m Jewish too, right? I know exactly what you say, every time you say it, _alta kaka_ ,” said Richie, pulling out his tongue to Stan.

“ _Tistom-tah-peh_ ,” said Stan, a smile now visible on his face.

As Richie was about to accost Stanley in his vast knowledge of Yiddish cursing, Bev plopped onto the couch on the other side of the couch, hugging her knees. “So, what is it so urgent that you wanted to tell us?”

Richie’s body was reeking excitement so much that it made Stanley roll his eyes. “I met the love of my life today,” said Richie, giggling into his hands.

Stan groaned loudly. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Both Richie and Bev shot him a glare. “Tell me, tell me!” squealed Bev, jumping up and down like a 10-year-old.

“He has the dreamiest brown curls; he’s a BARISTA, how much cuter can you get?! He has brown eyes that have this white shine to them that I only ever saw in Stan’s manga, and he’s fucking British. BRITISH, Bev!” Richie’s eyes actually watered from talking about the boy he saw, and Bev couldn’t help but grin. _What a fucking sap._

“Okay, no offense, but he sounds too good to be true. Are you sure you weren’t drunk out of your mind?” asked Beverly, smirking at Richie playfully.

“First of all, wow? Second, it happened literally twenty minutes ago, do I look drunk to you?”

“Yes,” both Bev and Stan said in unison.

“Fuck you guys,” said Richie, pouting out his glossed bottom lip out.

Stan rolled his eyes in exaggeration and finally lowered the binoculars to look at his friend. “And what makes you think that you have a chance with an adorable, British, anime-looking boy?” The defiance in Stanley’s voice caught Richie off guard. _Oh, it_ _’_ _s on, bitch._

“Okay, I’m not ever introducing him to you,” said Richie, pointing a finger at Stanley’s smug frame. He’d never admit it but he was intimidated by how attractive his friend is, and he’s not letting his future husband fall in love with him. _Future husband? God, I_ _’_ _m pathetic._

“No, but seriously, Tozier, you have to show him to me. And we have to develop a game plan,” said Bev, rubbing her palms together with a scheming look on her face.

“Fuck yeah! Not today though. I have to upload an essay for my research on Elon Musk tonight. _Ciao, bellas_!” screamed Richie before jumping off the couch and running towards his room and plopping his laptop open to start on the essay that was due in less than four hours. _Typical._

 

* * *

 

 

The smell of coffee in the atmosphere mixed with the scent of chocolate pastries in the morning: what could be better than that on a Saturday? The noise of other people’s conversations drowned out by the conversations in your head that the characters from the book are having: what could be more pleasant?

Eddie would want to say that he has fun on the weekends, but he must be the most boring 20-year-old on the planet. He was sitting at the café he works at five times a week, sipping his hot drink and reading yet another Joan Didion book. _How much gayer can I get?_ He looked up from the book to look at his roommate Mike who had large red headphones locked onto his head; his eyes squinted from laughing too hard. _Probably watching vines again. Dufus._ Eddie was about to continue reading when he saw someone’s head popping out from under a huge Astronomy textbook they were hiding under, and the person instantly popped his head back down to shield himself from view. Eddie rolled his eyes and got up from the table, mouthing ‘be right back’ to Mike’s confused expression.

The small boy came right in front of the table where a boy was clutching the alleged textbook; his rainbow-colored nails the only thing visible besides a mop of black hair lying down on the table. Eddie crossed his arms over his oversized lavender sweater, waiting for the person to lift their head up. He heard a gorgeous red-headed girl stifle a laugh from the opposite seat and shot her a glare which made her face more or less serious before she tapped her fingers on the other boy’s bare forearm. The tall boy lifted his head and his red face was met with Eddie’s poker face staring back at him.

“Have you lost your marbles?” said Eddie, leaning a little forward to accentuate his annoyance with Richie. 

“Oh my god, you weren’t joking,” said the redhead, her eyes comically wide and the freckles on her nose standing out from the sunshine glaring form the window.

Eddie scrunched his eyebrows at her, still not getting a response from the lanky boy. “What?” he asked Beverly.

“Oh, um… Rich?” said Bev, tapping Richie’s forearm again but to no avail. He was staring at Eddie with almost literal heart eyes.

“Hi,” was all the tall boy could muster, his freckled cheeks red and his hands shaking a little on the large textbook he was desperately clutching.

“Are you stalking me?” asked Eddie, fighting the funny feeling in his stomach that looking at Richie’s dark shiny eyes made him feel.

“Yeah,” said Richie, letting the textbook drop on the table and leaning on his hand dreamily, staring up at Eddie as if he hung the moon itself.

It was the first time that Eddie noticed just how _pretty_ Richie was. He instantly knew he was attractive when he first saw him – you’d be an idiot to say otherwise – but he was also plain _pretty._ And Eddie’s type. _Of course._ He was ridiculously tall, his form was taking up the entire table leaning on it and even sitting down he was twice his companion’s size. Eddie was terrified of seeing him actually stand in front of him and even the thought of it was creating heat flashes in part of the small boy’s body that he didn’t know existed. Eddie tried to keep his composure, still convinced that this was all a game to Richie. He was hit on a lot of times at work, Eddie knew he was cute, but something about the tall boy wasn’t sitting right with him, and he couldn’t place the feeling he felt around him even if it was the second time he ever saw the man.

“So you’re just blatantly admitting to stalking me? It doesn’t bother you that it could scare me off?” said Eddie, putting one hand on the hip and raising an eyebrow at Richie defiantly.

“Oh, _au contraire,_ my sweet scone, I believe I’m just what you need,” said Richie, finally gaining his composure and winking at Eddie which made the shorter boy’s eyes widen.

“Did you just call me a scone?” asked Eddie, pretending very hard to be offended.

“Oh, please tell me that you’d choose any other pastry in here. I dare you,” said Richie grinning, already knowing the answer. 

Eddie pursed his lips and turned a bit to look at Beverly whose eyes were running feverishly between Richie and Eddie. “Does your boyfriend always act like this?” 

Bev broke down into a fit of laughter at which everyone turned around, slamming a hand on the table and clutching her stomach with the other. “Oh, sweetie, you got it soooo wrong. I don’t date, period. And this one over here would date quite literally ANYTHING, even though I’m sure he’s more gay than anyone on this planet,” Bev had tears in her eyes from laughing, but she could still see Richie flipping her off from the blurred vision.

“Is your boyfriend okay with you talking to us?” asked Richie, pointing at Mike’s frame who was now leaning one of his arms on the back of the chair, squinting in their direction to see what was going on.

“Michael’s not my boyfriend. Very confused in his sexuality, I think, but he’s just a nice bloke I met last year. We’ve been roommates ever since,” said Eddie, turning a bit to give a small wave and a smile to Mike.

“You think I could finally turn him?” asked Richie, smirking at Eddie again.

“Hell no. He wouldn’t go for someone like you. You’re too skinny,” said Eddie, pointing his hand up and down Richie’s frame. His legs were long enough to stick out to where Eddie was standing, and he couldn’t help but find it _really fucking hot._

Richie made a ridiculous face (which Eddie figured was a normality) and clutched his heart, faking being hurt. “I can’t believe that you would think that, good sir. Thee considers thyself immensely charming, I dare say,” said Richie with a broken British accent that sounded more Scottish to Eddie than anything and he started giggling uncontrollably, covering his mouth to avoid embarrassing drool from escaping his mouth.

Richie started staring at him with awe again. “Okay, that was fucking adorable.”

“And THAT was fucking terrible. Who taught you that? Have you ever actually heard a British person speak?” asked Eddie, wiping an escaping happy tear with his lavender sweater.

“Not until you, cutie. So what about that number?” asked Richie and Eddie couldn’t help but notice how his voice faltered at the last sentence. _We_ _’_ _ll let him suffer a bit longer._

“I gave you that last night. Have you forgotten?” said Eddie with a smirk before swiveling around and strutting back to his table with Mike, swaying his jean short covered hips a bit more than necessary.

Richie let his head fall down on his hands, trying to get the image of Eddie’s tan legs out of his mind. He imitated sobbing sounds and movements, throwing a fist down before he felt Beverly’s hand on top of his. He lifted his eyes and saw her shaking her head in Eddie’s direction where the small boy now sat on his seat facing Richie, half of his face hiding behind a small book. When he saw the tall boy looking, he blushed and covered the rest of his face up, and Richie couldn’t get the painful grin off his face until he fell asleep that night, dreaming of brown curls and lavender sweaters.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> strawberry açai is my weakness
> 
> guide to Hebrew cursing:  
> schmegegge 'jerk/fool'  
> alta kaka 'old man'  
> tistom-tah-peh 'fuck off'
> 
> P.S. I giggled too much while writing this.
> 
> P.P.S. don't hate on fifty shades around me, I get defensive


	3. Hot and Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward attends the Science Fair.

Mike was making his way back to the dorms after practice, already dreading the upcoming weekend filled with endless essays and business reports. He pushed his oversized headphones onto his neck and unlocked the door, pushing it open with the duffel bag. His eyes traveled straight to Eddie’s small form in a large grey sweatshirt and sweatpants, and he was… crying? Mike let the bag fall and ran up to the side of the bed where Eddie slept, touching his shoulder and looking at him in expectation of the answer. Eddie wiped his eyes with the sleeve of a sweatshirt and pointed at the screen of his MacBook, a name of a YouTube video _Lucas the Spider_ written under the paused black box _._

Michael looked at Eddie quizzically, and the small boy quietly reloaded the video, pointing his finger at the screen. Mike watched the 20-second video and looked at Eddie again, expecting an explanation.

“It’s too cute, Mike,” said Eddie, starting to cry again softly. Mike rolled his eyes and laughed softly.

“I thought something happened to you, Eddie, jeez. And, okay, that actually is very cute,” he said and sat down next to Eddie on the bed to reload the video again.

Eddie was making the same movements as the animated spider and Mike pinched his cheeks in adoration. He got up from the bed and started undressing on the other side of the room, throwing his used up uniform in the laundry basket. Mike hated taking showers at the sports center and preferred the bathroom they had on the floor of their dorms.

“Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?” asked Mike as he was rummaging in the drawer of his dresser for clean underwear.

“Um, nothing, really. I don’t have a shift all weekend, which seems like a miracle, so I might just do my homework and watch this.” Eddie twirled the laptop around that showed the first episode of _Will and Grace_ paused at the very beginning.

Mike laughed softly. “You’re gonna watch that again?”

“Don’t you dare say anything negative about them, sir! They are _iconic_ ,” said Eddie and lifted his chin in mock pride, propping his back against the wall.

“You know what I mean. Why don’t you go to this Science Expo with me? One of my teammates is an Engineering major, and he’s presenting the project he’s been working on all last year,” said Mike, stuffing his clean clothes in a little bag and wrapping a towel around his waist.

“What on Earth would I do at a Science Fair? I’m not nerdy if you haven’t noticed.”

“You don’t have to _do_ anything. I just need you there, I don’t want to go alone. Pleeeease?” Mike looked at Eddie expectantly, pouting out to exaggerate his need for a companion.

“Ugh, fine. Who can say no to you when you ask wrapped in a towel, abs showing and all,” said Eddie smirking and Mike winked before throwing finger guns in his direction and leaving the room to go shower.

Eddie closed his laptop and lied back down on the bed, snuggling in his fluffy white duvet. He didn’t like parties; he was more of a ‘dancing uncontrollably in a group of close friends’ kind of guy. He didn’t go to events either, since most of his interests included books and, well, that’s about it. Eddie chose marketing the end of his Sophomore year because one of his biggest dreams was to open a start-up that would connect youth creativity with actual potential job offers. He was also constantly thinking of ways to help international students achieve success, and possibly opening a small company that would assist undergraduate and graduate students from other countries.

Eddie’s mind wandered off to the boy he last saw in the cafe, and he found himself biting his lower lip, lost in thoughts. He couldn’t stop thinking about him, but he was terrified of how attracted he was to the tall man. Eddie knew it was hopeless for him to start dating anyone - he had to go back to England every summer, and he didn’t know if he would be able to find a job right out of college. Without a work visa, he’d have to return to live with his mother and commuting to whatever office in London would be willing to hire him.

So his fears weren’t exactly uncalled for. He was ‘all-in’ kind of a person and fell in love very easily, and the way he felt about Richie ( _if that was even his real name_ ) was a lot more intense than he was used to. They barely talked but he felt so connected to him, and the buzzing energy around them was both overwhelming and not enough. Eddie couldn’t remember the last time he felt that way about anyone, and it terrified him and excited him at the same time. He was both hoping he will never see Richie again and wanted to see him come in through the door of Starbucks every day. As his head started to hurt from the emotional turmoil, he picked up _Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children_ from his nightstand and started reading from where he last stopped, giving his mind a bit of a distraction.

 

* * *

 

“I love you, but that boy is sooo out of your league,” said Bev, puffing smoke out of the window.

“What kind of support is this? Am I that ugly?” Richie made a pouty face and turned to lie down on his stomach on his ridiculously oversized bed.

“Don’t fish for compliments, Tozier. All I’m saying is, you’d have to actually work for this one. He won’t come running into your arms. Doesn’t help that he’s totally your type either,” said Bev smirking with a cigarette between her lips, trying to wrap a hair tie around the growing auburn bob.

“As if I never work for anyone else,” said Richie rolling his eyes. 

“No, you don’t. You lose interest so quickly, it’s kind of ridiculous. I’ve never actually heard you talking so much about someone. He really got under your skin.”

“There’s somewhere else I’d like him to get to-“

“Shut up!” squealed Bev, throwing a pack of cigarettes towards Richie’s form on the bed. “Have you thought of how you’re going to get his number after all?”

“It’s a little more difficult than it usually is. I haven’t actually seen him outside of that cafe, and after our last interaction, I’m not exactly sure I’d like to try spying on him there,” said Richie, furrowing his brows.

“You mean, stalking?” asked Bev with a playful expression.

“Oh, shut up, Marsh. It’s not my fault I can’t stay away from him.”

“Okay, what are we going to do about that then?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know anything about him besides his name. And this school literally takes up half the Manhattan, how am I gonna figure out where to look?”

“Hey, don’t worry too much about it. We’ll find your English boy. Maybe we should go to events more often,” said Bev, plopping down on the bed next to Richie.

“You don’t even go to this school!” screamed Richie laughing.

“Fuck you! Parsons parties are weird and lame, and everyone tries to show off their sculptures made out of whatever the hell they found at their apartment. It’s annoying,” laughed Bev and nudged her friends’ shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be prepping your stuff anyway?”

“Oh shit!” exclaimed Richie and jumped up from the bed to make his way into the living room, hoping he still has enough time to prepare his project.

 

* * *

 

The large auditorium was buzzing with excitement and people were talking extremely loud, which irritated the living crap out of Eddie. He sometimes had symptoms of panic attacks in large crowds which music typically helped with, so he took his wireless AirPods out of the pocket of his short jean shorts and plugged them into his ears. After making sure that the Bluetooth connection was good, he turned on _Troye Sivan_ _–_ _My My My!_ and grinned at the beat, making his body move a little bit to the song, dancing around people who thought standing in the middle of the walkway is acceptable.

Eddie separated from Mike about 10 minutes ago, growing desperately tired from his flirting with the teammate Kyle he came to see, apparently still in deep denial about his sexuality. _Why are football players so dense?_ He knew it was appropriation, but it was true - most of the men on Michael’s team were clearly not straight but for whatever reason, chose to hide their sexuality. Eddie hung around them long enough to see them flirting with each other and himself. And since he wasn’t planning on being someone else’s closet case secret, he didn’t play along and usually barely stuck around those congregations.

He kept walking around the Science Fair, rarely coming up to the booths and generally just smoothly dancing in the walkway. Eddie was holding a large cherry lollipop and licked it viciously to accentuate his moves, mouthing the words of the songs. He came up to someone’s booth that had a mirror on there that was supposed to change only the skin color of the person looking into it. He giggled as he saw his face in purple hue, his thin winged eyeliner standing out brightly from the rest of the face. _I look like a gay alien. Or maybe a straight alien. Maybe aliens are all gay, and straight people are gay people there._ Eddie shook his head out from funny thoughts and kept walking, rolling up the sleeves of his white Psycho Bunny long sleeve, feeling the hotness of the room from his dancing, and, well, _a crowd of Neanderthals._

He started stomping his pale blue Vans playfully to _New Rules_ , making a lot of people stare in his direction, not that it ever bothered him. _Not since I moved away._ Eddie was shaking his index finger, dancing to ‘one, don’t pick up the phone’, his hips swinging a little bit and he clicked a volume up higher, pressing the button through the back pocket of his shorts. He ended up in front of a booth with a couple of machines that were all food related. Eddie loved food, and the booth attracted him instantly, especially since the banners were all colorful, and he couldn’t help but get attracted to anything with rainbows on it. _Sue me._

An odd machine that promised to produce ham in shape of spaghetti was standing in front of him, and as creative as it looked, he hated ham because that’s basically _all_ his mother fed him throughout his childhood, so he moved onto the next one. The next machine was a bit smaller, and a large paper sign (hand-drawn, to Eddie’s surprise) exclaimed _HOT ICE CREAM_ , with cute little ice creams drawn around the words, steam coming out of them. Eddie giggled and started looking around the machine to see if he could make it work. No one was at the booth, so he decided to take it into his own hands to turn it on. He pushed a small button on the side and waited as he saw the whisk in the back spinning and machine making loud noises even through the music.

As he was staring intently at the machine, waiting for the promised desert to make its way out, he saw a tall frame jump out from behind the curtains and smash on the button forcefully, large brown eyes terrified and hair covering most of the face from the speed at which he ran. Eddie felt himself redden instantly as he realized who was in front of him and he reached out to brush the hair out of boy’s face to confirm. Richie was staring up at him, his canary yellow glasses a little skewed from the jump, and Eddie noticed some gloss on his parted lips. His lips weren’t exactly full, but they were sort of, _just enough._ It took Eddie a while to realize that he was spoken to, and he quickly moved both of his hands to the ears, pulling the earphones out.

“I’m sorry, what?” asked Eddie, stuffing the headphones in his front pockets.

“I asked if you wanted to try the ice cream,” said Richie, now a little calmer with a small smile on his face, his cheeks a bit red.

“Oh. Right. Yeah. Did I do something wrong?” asked Eddie, now severely concerned that he damaged something.

“I mean, I got here on time, but there was nothing in the bowl, and it overheats if the ice cream isn’t in there, and it would’ve exploded,” said Richie quickly, his eyes wide with mild panic.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin anything. I love ice cream,” said Eddie, twirling the lollipop in his hands awkwardly.

“You have a sweet tooth,” said Richie grinning, pointing at the candy.

“What? Oh, yeah. I do. My mother didn’t let me eat anything remotely sweet when I was little, so I try to catch up,” said Eddie smirking, popping the lollipop back into his mouth.

Richie was staring at the small boy’s mouth with nerve-racking intensity. “Um… Right. I like candy too. Anything sweet, honestly. Even my gloss is flavored,” he said, blushing a little and popping his lips to accentuate the point about the gloss.

“Looks nice on you,” said Eddie smirking, rolling the lollipop in his mouth. Richie’s eyes fell down on it again, and he visibly swallowed, something twitching below his navel.

“Eyeliner looks nice on _you_. Your eyes are already huge, but they’re unreal now,” said Richie blushing, looking at Eddie’s liner and his luscious eyelashes and _HOW IS HE EVEN REAL HE HAS TO BE ANIMATED._

“Oh, thanks. I don’t wear makeup that often, but I felt like it today,” said Eddie, feeling his cheeks burning intensely.

It surprised the small boy, but he didn’t notice until now that Richie had a beautiful collection of freckles stretching from one cheek to another just below his eyes. It somehow made Richie look even more attractive, not that Eddie needed help in liking him. It also wasn’t exactly repulsive that he was wearing another nerdy t-shirt on that said ‘I lost an electron. Are you positive’. Eddie snorted, and Richie looked down at his shirt in confusion, a grin spreading across his face when he saw where Eddie was looking.

“Why do you always wear these?” asked the small boy, pointing a lollipop at the shirt.

“Pays to be a nerdy engineer, I guess. Science was my favorite in school,” said Richie, smiling proudly.

“You’re an engineer?” asked Eddie, his eyes widening comically. _What a doll._

“Nerdy and proud,” said Richie, rounding the booth to stand right in front of Eddie.

_HOLY SHIT. HE_ _’_ _S SO TALL._ Eddie’s brain was doing this thing when he was still conscious but simultaneously felt like he was in another dimension. But, _WOW._ He didn’t even know until then how much of a turn on tall boys were, and this one was hot enough _far away._ But now that he was standing this close, _so close,_ Eddie couldn’t even think straight ( _HA_ ). His lollipop hung just below his lips, mouth a little agape, eyes trailing over Richie’s face. His neck hurt but he could care less. Richie smelled like _candy._ Eddie loves candy. _Is it possible for a person to smell like candy?_ His head was swimming.

“Taste good?” asked Richie, his dark eyes pointing at the lollipop that somehow felt too heavy in Eddie’s hands.

And Eddie’s brain just had to do a thing again, and he pushed his hand up in the direction of Richie’s mouth that wasn’t too far, to begin with, but this was definitely too much for people seeing each other for the third time. Richie’s face flushed, but he didn’t hesitate and grabbed around Eddie’s hand (which, _WOW my hand is HALF of his_ ) leaning down and put the whole thing in his mouth, popsicle looking much smaller around his lips. Richie’s expression darkened if that was even possible, and he looked Eddie dead in the eye, sucking on the thing as if it’s his lifeline. A couple of seconds later, Eddie’s breath heavy, ears ringing, and the tall boy pulled away, a sinful smirk on his face.

“Definitely good.” Eddie visibly swallowed, still unable to speak and he _knew_ his boxers were somehow uncomfortable now. “What were you listening to?” asked Richie waiting for an answer. 

Unable to talk, Eddie reached into his back pocket to hand Richie his iPhone, the tall boy smiling at the color. Richie didn’t lose his time on looking at the song and quickly seized the moment, putting his number into the small boy’s phone. Eddie was standing there transfixed, searching Richie’s face for something, anything, his shorts feeling too tight and his heart felt like exploding. Richie finished with the phone and smiled lightly, reveling in the fact that Eddie’s eyes never left his face. Their fingers brushed as the small boy took the device back, and Richie’s entire body shivered, goosebumps visible on the forearms. 

“I tried Vegemite,” said Richie, smiling with obvious pride. Eddie’s face was frozen for a second until he broke into psychotic fits of laughter, grabbing onto Richie’s forearm as he doubled over in hysterics. 

“What?” asked Richie, laughing a little himself, confused at what was wrong with what he did.

Eddie laughed for a good minute, people turning from all directions to look at him and the tall boy was getting anxious. Eddie straightened up and wiped under his eyes careful not to smudge the liner.

“I can’t believe you’re such a blockhead,” said Eddie, starting to laugh again as he leaned one of his palms on the table. Richie stared at him with an amused and confused expression. “Vegemite is Australian.”

It took Richie a couple of seconds and then he did a facepalm motion, standing still for a couple of seconds. Eddie was still giggling softly, and he couldn’t help but feel pure adoration for the tall boy at that moment. _He tried that shit for me._ Eddie pried Richie’s hand from his face, smiling warmly at him.

“Do you still want the ice cream. I’ll try to make it work. It was the hardest machine to make, but it’s so worth it,” said Richie pointing his head towards the ‘HOT ICE CREAM’, his cheeks a little pink, a nervous smile playing on his lips.

“Wait, you made these?” asked Eddie turning towards the table, wide eyes expressing how impressed he was.

“Yeah… Um… This is one of our projects from last year. They were really fun to make,” said Richie, rubbing the back of his neck and reddening at Eddie’s proud tone.

“You are ace at this,” said Eddie, turning his face back to Richie and grinning at him excitedly.

“Ace?”

“Brilliant,” said Eddie softly, and Richie felt his insides melt.

Eddie’s phone vibrated, and he reached out for his back pocket again, furrowing his brows at whoever dared to interrupt their moment.

**M:** _hey I lost you where you @_

Eddie smiled and rolled his eyes.

**E:** _I got carried away. Sorry! Be right back._

The small boy put the phone back into his pocket and looked at Richie who was smiling softly at him, making Eddie’s stomach feel like it didn’t belong there.

“I’ve got to go. See you later,” said Eddie with a playful smirk and went in the direction he came from before he changed his mind, swaying his hips a little more than necessary because _Richie,_ and somehow he knew he was looking.

Getting closer to the booth Mike was in, Eddie mentally cussed himself out for forgetting to give Richie his number. He pulled out his phone to open Facebook (which he would have to register for because he hated that app) to search every goddamn Richie in the universe until he saw the Phone tab open and tapped on it curiously. Under the letter ‘D’ there was a name he hasn’t seen before, titled ‘Devilishly Handsome’. Eddie remembered Richie going around his phone when the small boy was busy counting the freckles on his face, and he smiled widely at the fact that he now had his number. He changed the name to ‘Ugly Turd’ and strutted towards Mike and Kyle, thinking of what he’d say in his first text to Richie over the weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LUCAS THE SPIDER WATCH THIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrS6akzR3sk
> 
> my super gay bois are back
> 
> hope you like 
> 
> comment plz
> 
> *_____*


	4. Add Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward meets a new friend and goes on a first date without his knowledge.

The library carried Eddie’s favorite scent, and every time he walked into that building he felt as if he was transported in time. Sunday afternoon was passing by slowly, the day stretching mercilessly and no amount of homework could make Eddie feel like he was busy. He dropped his head on the forearms of his turquoise NYU sweatshirt, a violent migraine taking a seed.

He let his mind wander to Richie ( _big surprise_ ), and smiled smugly at himself – he still hasn’t texted him. It’s been more than 24 hours, and the tall boy must be livid by now, but Eddie was stubborn and liked to mess with him, so he let him wallow in some soul-searching. _Yeah, I_ _’_ _m aware I_ _’_ _m a dick._

Eddie unlocked his phone, still lying down sideways on one of his forearms, a sea of notebooks surrounding his single table. He pulled up the Messages tab and clicked on ‘Ugly Turd’ and stared at a screen for a couple of seconds, not coming up with anything to say. He sighed heavily and got up from the table, deciding that he might as well focus on his homework.

He made the way to the section with 17th century literature, looking for one of his assigned books that was sold out at their bookstore. They were currently studying John Milton who was apparently very popular in their school because he couldn’t find his novels _anywhere._ Eddie made his way to a shelf with ‘M’ in British novelists and started walking in the direction of the next letter in his last name. When he finally found novelists with a beginning ‘MI’ he craned his neck up to see that they were at the very top shelf. _Of-fucking-course._ He looked around him and couldn’t see a step or a ladder anywhere and he internally cursed himself off for a 100th time for being a real-life version of Grumpy the Dwarf.

Eddie started jumping up quietly, hoping that he can force a couple of books to fall down that he’d later apologize for. But hopping in his jean overalls was not a good idea – they were already a little big on him, but now both of his straps were falling down and he was getting dangerously close to the level of irritation that will make him scream bloody murder in the middle of the library. Right before he embarrassed himself in front of dozens of people quietly studying on his floor, a boy rounded the corner with a pile of books in his hands, looking for a place to put them. He saw Eddie’s last feeble attempt at reaching the top shelf and put the pile of the books on the floor before reaching the middle of the section to help the small boy. Eddie noticed that he had a library badge hanging off of his neck and breathed out in relief. 

“Hi, you need some help?” The boy was standing close to Eddie now, and he wasn’t _that_ much taller, maybe 5’10” to Eddie’s 5’6” but enough to reach the top shelf, for sure. 

“I do, thank you. I’m a midget, you see,” said Eddie, pointing up and down his body.

The boy laughed softly, and Eddie found that he really liked him. He had a comforting air around him, broad fit shoulders and very light brown hair that looked extremely soft. The boy was wearing a baby blue button-up with a stripy dark blue cardigan, and fitted dark jeans. His thin brown glasses accentuated his eyes perfectly, making the dark green in his irises stand out.

“You’re not a midget – our shelves are just extremely tall. Makes working here without a ladder that much more difficult,” said the boy smiling warmly. _He is too nice. He_ _’_ _s either a murderer or a secret psychopath. People are never this nice._

“Must be a nice job. I actually wanted to either work here or in the bookstore, but both were full,” said Eddie, putting his hands in the pockets of the overalls.

“It has its perks. I love books, so there was no other option for me, really. I’m an Architecture major but there’s no way for me to work in the field until I graduate, so this is where I am. Where do you work?”

“Starbucks,” said Eddie, rolling his eyes and earning a soft laugh from the boy. “Don’t get me wrong, I love that job. It just seems overwhelming at times, and let’s just say I didn’t expect to be working full-time the second I got there. I applied for part-time.”

“That’s how it usually is with waitressing and retail jobs, unfortunately. I’m Ben, by the way,” said the boy, extending a hand for Eddie to shake.

“Gods, you’re old school,” said Eddie grinning and firmly shaking his hand. “I’m Eddie.”

“I want to say that I’m not but I really, really am,” answered Ben grinning in return. “And you have an impressive handshake. You do sports here?”

“Oh, fuck no,” said Eddie, laughing softly. “I hate exercise and anything to do with it. I honestly think the only reason my arms are toned is from the piles of books I’ve carried in my lifetime.”

“Honestly, me too. I go to the gym sometimes, but I’m not that invested. I don’t even have time to work out properly. So, what were you looking for?” asked Ben, pointing his head to the top shelf. 

“Right. John Milton’s _Areopagitica_.” 

“Serious book. For yourself or class?” asked Ben, reaching out to a couple of Milton’s books, shuffling them in his hand to find the right one.

“A class. But honestly, I had it on my list for such a long time, I’m just glad to read it.”

Ben laughed softy without lifting his eyes. “Of course you are.”

Eddie stared for a second and then did a double take. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ben raised his eyes with an alarmed expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. But I can’t say that it’s not ironic that a British guy would be a fan of a British novelist. It’s like me fawning over Hemingway which I do, by the way,” smiled Ben nervously, waiting for Eddie’s response.

The small boy laughed whole-heartedly, rubbing his face from exhaustion. “Don’t worry, I’m not offended. Sorry if I sounded rude, I’m exhausted.”

“Tell me about it. I have a whole night of studying here after I’m done with my shift,” said Ben, finally finding a single book of _Areopagitica_ form the pile in his hands. He reached it out for Eddie to take.

“Thanks. If you want, we can study together. I find that it always helps when you have somebody to slap you when you’re dozing off or start watching YouTube videos,” said Eddie hugging the book in his hands and smiling at Ben softly.

Ben laughed throwing his head back. “I’d love to but are you sure you’ll be here that long? I’m getting off in about an hour, and I’ll probably be here until it closes.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. I will most certainly be here until 1 am,” said Eddie smiling up at the boy.

“Alright, whatever you say. I’ll see you later then,” said Ben, picking up the stack he left on the floor.

“I’m sitting on this floor close to the elevators,” said Eddie waving temporary goodbye to Ben who did the same from underneath the pile almost sending it tumbling to the floor. Eddie chuckled and left the isle.

They ended up studying until the cleaning lady started forcefully pushing on their chairs with a vacuum cleaner. Ben was apparently very bad at organizing his homework and had an extremely overwhelmed expression when he started pulling stuff out of his large brown messenger bag. Eddie giggled before pulling out his white and gold daily planner, showing Ben how _normal_ people keep up with their schedule. They ended up giggling together at Eddie’s stickers of nails on the days he had manicure scheduled and the little notes of motivational quotes he had written in squiggly letters. Eddie left the library that day with Ben’s number and a warm feeling of making a new friend.

 

* * *

  

Monday morning wasn’t going that great for Eddie by a long shot. Audra texted him at 6am saying that someone called out, asking him to come in for the 7-3 shift. He was going to tell her that he had a class but his professor cancelled the night before and since it was his only lecture of the day, he couldn’t really use that as an excuse. He quickly responded to the text and quietly got up from the bed, trying not to wake up Mike who was sleeping in his white boxers and nothing else, one leg hanging off of the side of the bed. Eddie chuckled quietly and left to take a shower.

He was now at work, it’s already been almost 4 hours which meant his break was getting close and he _couldn_ _’_ _t fucking wait._ Eddie heard from Luna that Monday morning shifts were a nightmare but he didn’t realize it until he saw how grumpy everyone was. The insane morning rush just ended and he stepped away from the screen to lean against the counter where the frapps were made. Luna went to the restroom and he had an idea on how to spend his break. He took the phone out of the back pocket of his khaki shorts and bit the bottom lip, his blood already racing.

**(917)351-7776:** _What are you doing right now?_

It probably should have scared him how fast the response was.

**Ugly Turd:** _if this is who I think it is, I’m pissed but also how      are you, I miss your cute face_

**(917)351-7776:** _You seemed overly confident. Someone had to teach you a lesson._

**Ugly Turd:** _spaghetti! I_ _’_ _m just working on one of my projects in the lab what are u doing_

**baby love:** _I_ _’_ _m at work. I have a break at 10am. Would you like to join me for lunch?_

**Ugly Turd:** _afjahbfbafbabfibidfb fuck yes be there in 15_

**baby love: _:)_**

Eddie smiled at his phone, small bits of happy anxiety pressing on the inside of his throat. Luna returned from the restroom and saw the small boy smiling giddily at the floor as if it was the love of his life.

“You okay there, bud? I know you’re tired, but this infatuation with the rubber carpets is a little unhealthy, let me tell you,” said Luna, crossing her arms in front of him and leaning on the opposite counter with an amused expression, two brown braids on either side of her face.

Eddie lifted his eyes and grinned at her. “You’re so funny, let’s get married.”

“If we’re not by the time we’re thirty, we’re definitely getting married. It’s now a pact, Edward,” she said, crossing her heart with a finger. “Anyway, who were you daydreaming about?" 

“A boy,” said Eddie quietly, a blush creeping on his cheeks.

“A BOY?! How do I not know about this?” asked Luna, stepping closer to Eddie and leaning on the counter next to him.

“Because there is nothing to know? I just got his number or was forced to have it, on the weekend. I asked him to have lunch with me on my break. Do you think that’s too much?” asked Luna and saw her brown eyes soften at his worried tone.

“I don’t think having coffee in the middle of the day is going to be too much for him, Eddie,” said the girl, smiling.

She was wearing a full face of makeup, brown and gold eyeshadow with glued lashes and a dry lipstick that had a nice brownish tone to it. Eddie wondered for the 100th time how she had any time in the morning to do that, and where she learned how to do it _so well._ It also surprised him to that day that she was single – she was stunning, an amazing artist, and one of the best friends he could’ve asked for. _Anyone would be lucky to have her._

“Why are you single again?”

Luna laughed loudly. “Because I don’t need no man,” she snapped her fingers in the air sassily. “Or woman. Relationships are overrated anyway. At least for me, they are.”

 Luna then stepped away to the register to take someone’s order and her and Eddie got busy preparing a large assortment of lattes and pastries for the office across the street. Before he knew it, it was time for his break and he made his way to the back room to take off the apron and the hat, and clocked out on the computer. He opened the doors and made his way to the long fridge to grab something to eat. He grabbed the PB&J protein box and a chicken wrap for Richie, hoping he isn’t vegetarian.

“What would you like to drink, sir?” asked Luna, winking at the small boy.

Eddie laughed – he didn’t get to work with her that much, but he loved it when he did. “Tall Earl Grey tea with whole milk and two raw sugars, please.”

“Picky, I like it.” Luna took two tall cups from the stack and started drawing something on it, biting her tongue. Eddie chuckled and reached out for the scanner to ring up the two boxes.

“Could you also ring up a Trenta Strawberry Açai?” asked Eddie in a small voice.

“Treat for a date?” asked Luna, waggling her eyebrows and writing on the large cup longer than necessary.

“It’s not a date,” said Eddie, blushing a little.

At that moment, the alleged ‘date’ barged into the café, almost knocking the stand with dry snacks down. Eddie chuckled at the image of a tall gangly boy struggling to walk in a straight line. He felt something stir in his belly when Richie got closer, because, of course, he looked gorgeous. Eddie could tell he didn’t try to look good but that somehow made him even more attractive. His messy hair was put into a bun and he wasn’t wearing any glasses which were replaced by large black goggles perched on the forehead. He was wearing a fuchsia V-neck with a white open short-sleeved button-up with small Darth Vader’s on it. Richie’s black skinny jeans paired with black vans were making Eddie drool and feel dry-mouthed at the same time.

“Sorry, hot stuff, I had to run from the lab, and it’s on the other side of campus,” said Richie, crouching down and putting his hands on the knees, trying to catch his breath.

“You look positively wrecked,” said Eddie, looking Richie over with a raised eyebrow.

“And you look very put together – what a nice combo, huh?” said Richie, looking over Eddie’s form in a white polo t-shirt, khaki shorts, and white vans. _Fucking hell._ He grinned and winked at Eddie, and the small boy would be ashamed to say out loud how it made him feel.

“Holy fuck, do you mind if I draw you?” asked Luna, suddenly breaking them out of the daze of not being the only ones in the room.

“Huh?”

“Sorry if that sounds weird, we have this project in our drawing class for different facial types, and you have the sharpest cheekbones I’ve ever seen,” said Luna, looking at Richie’s face as if he was a work of art.

“Sure thing, sweets. Do I have to pose nude? I can pose nude,” said Richie straightening up and making a pose like the sculpture of David.

“She was talking about drawing your face, you ass,” said Eddie, nudging Richie’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but feel jealous from their mild flirting, and it occurred to him that he likes Richie more than he was willing to admit. _I_ _’_ _m fucked._

He didn’t realize he was glaring at Luna until she giggled. “Don’t worry, Eddie, I’m not stealing your man. He’s more of a project for me than anything else. No offense.”

“None taken,” said Richie without looking at her, grinning at Eddie. The small boy furrowed his brows and extended his phone for Luna to charge. She scanned his phone and winked at Eddie before him and Richie scooted to the side to wait for their drinks. 

Eddie reached out the box to Richie with a nervous expression. “I got you this and the drink you ordered last time. I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course it’s alright, Spaghetti, I’m just glad you texted me,” said Richie taking the box from Eddie’s small hand and smiling at how perfectly manicured his nails looked.

“That’s not my name,” said Eddie, trying to bite back a smile, feeling his cheeks turn pink. “Why on Earth are you wearing those on your head?” Eddie pointed at the goggles.

“Oh, well, I got so flustered that you texted me that I pretty much bolted out of the door without any of my stuff,” the tall boy was grinning so wide that Eddie felt a surge of unnatural affection for him.

“Right. Because you’re _that_ infatuated with me,”

“But I am. I so am, Eds,” said Richie boring his eyes into Eddie’s.

“Here you are, boys,” said Luna with a visible smirk in her voice.

They grabbed the cups quickly admiring the comic drawings that Luna did where there was a speech bubble and an arrow with writing ‘I like that boy’. Both blushed and walked over to the table by the window. Eddie started unpacking his box and assembling everything in it in the order in which he was planning to eat it. He was concentrated, biting on his lower lip, and he lifted his head after he put the last carrot in its allotted space to see Richie staring at him with that dark expression that made Eddie stir in his seat when the tall boy’s eyes dropped to his lips.

“You’re staring again,” said Eddie, voice a bit uneven. _Get a fucking hold of yourself, Edward._

“You’re just… I don’t know. You’re very cute, Eds,” said Richie blushing a little, and popping a cucumber in his mouth.

“When did you get that?” asked Eddie, ignoring the nickname and pointing his tiny sandwich at the industrial piercing in Richie’s ear.

“Freshman year, I think. It was one of the most painful moments of my life. I’m never piercing anything again. You have any?”

“I do. Somewhere you can’t see,” said Eddie and playfully winked at Richie whose mouth opened and some chicken fell out. Eddie laughed so hard that he had to double over. “You’re nasty.”

“And you’re a tease. You don’t have one, do you?” asked Richie, laughing at Eddie’s reaction.

He was still laughing hard, so he just shook his head. “I’m terrified of needles. All thanks to mother dearest. Point is, I would never get one,” said Eddie coming off of his laughing fit, and picked up the second piece of PB&J.

“I’m not. I have a lot of tattoos actually, but piercings are a ‘no’ for me ever since that one.”

“Where are the tattoos?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” said Richie wiggling his eyebrows. _I really really do._ “Guess you’re forced to agree to that second date now.”

“Are you mad? When was the first one?" 

“Right now, Eds. You texted me to come, bought me lunch and pointed out small details of my appearance. This is a date,” said Richie smirking, finishing up his wrap.

“Is not!” squealed Eddie with a full mouth of PB&J. 

“You can stop being in denial and just tell me where to take you, hot stuff,” said Richie, wiping his hands on the napkin.

“What makes you think I want to go out with you?" 

“You don’t?” asked Richie, raising an eyebrow. Eddie leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. “See? You don’t _don_ _’_ _t_ want to, so that’s a start.” Richie grabbed Eddie’s cup and took a sip of it, his face spreading into a wide grin when he tasted it.

“Close your mouth, a fly will get in,” said Eddie, furrowing his brows at Richie’s overjoyed expression.

“What is that?”

“Tea with milk,” said Eddie, taking a cup and taking a sip from it, a little too concentrated on pushing his lips where Richie’s were.

Richie bent his arm at the elbow, putting his chin on his hand. “My sweet scone, you are a dream." 

“Not a scone, you idiot,” said Eddie with zero bite in his voice.

“Sure. And I’m not blind as a bat. Let’s play pretend,” said Richie staring warmly at Eddie. The sun was illuminating the tall boy’s face, making his freckles stand out and Eddie thought he never saw anyone more beautiful.

Eddie pretended to cough. “So what did you have in mind?”

“For what?”

Eddie tilted his head in an ‘are-you-kidding’ expression. “Don’t make me say it.”

“AHA! So it _is_ a date.”

“Alright, I’ve changed my mind.”

“Don’t break my heart, Eds. I already have an idea. There’s going to be a rally in school for LGBTQ+ rights, and they’re making it into this whole rainbow glitter celebration with food and booze. Wanna go?”

“Oh, I’ve heard about that. Sounds really fun, actually. I work in the morning though but not a full shift, so I might be able to drop in later,” said Eddie, beaming at Richie’s cool suggestion.

“It’s a date.”

“Sure. It’s a date.”

They sat for a bit talking, and Eddie found out that the beautiful banners on Richie’s stand were painted by his friend Beverly, who honestly sounded like Luna’s long-lost sister. They also had a small argument where Richie claimed that the word grey was supposed to have an ‘a’ in it, and Eddie just squealed and threw carrots at his face. Unfortunately, the small boy’s break was coming to an end, and he had to head back to work.

Eddie stood up from the table still blushing and picked up both of their empty boxes before Richie got a chance to. The tall boy grabbed the empty drinks and tossed them into an opening in the condiments counter, looking down at Eddie who was staring at him intently but warmly. _He_ _’_ _s like the Sun._

“I’ll see you Saturday then. You’ll text me?”

“Now that I have your number, Edward, you won’t see the last of me,” said Richie grinning.

“I’m tossing my phone out the window,” said Eddie making a mock irritated face. Richie thought it made him look like an annoyed kitten which was just more adorable.

“How will I bother you with memes and vines then?” said Richie, pushing on Eddie’s stomach affectionately. It made the small boy’s heart jump up to his throat.

“Only if they relate to your day. Don’t spam me with this millennial shit.”

“Millennial shit?” Richie laughed out loud. “Aren’t you a millennial?" 

“Beyond the point.” Eddie didn’t have any more free time, so he gently covered Richie’s hand by his before reaching on his tip toes to kiss the tall boy’s cheek warmly and languidly.

When he pulled away, he saw Richie’s eyes wide as saucers but glistening, cheeks red and the whole body as if frozen in time. Eddie bit his index finger and giggled before hopping back to the break room. Richie still stood there a minute later, his cheek a little wet and _burning_ , his whole body feeling numb and jello-like. _Oh, I_ _’_ _m in love, alright._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the names in the phone appear as they are written down in each other's contacts
> 
> hope you enjoy <3
> 
> P.S. if you're not reading Eddie's lines in British accent, I don't know what you're doing


	5. Rainbow Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie, Richie, and some of The Losers attend the LGBTQ+ rally at NYU.

It didn’t take long for Eddie to figure out what to wear but his nervousness was betraying him, and it was hard to decipher the exact reason his hands were shaking while zipping up his ripped white shorts that could barely pass to be speedos. They weren’t a size too small, they were just extra _revealing_ which worked perfectly well for the event he was going to. He kept spinning in front of his full-length mirror, smiling at the way his tan body looked in white and bright colors. Eddie was a sucker for taking care of his skin, so he made sure to apply one of those overpriced lotions with specks of gold glitter in it all over his body, making him glow better than Eva Longoria in a TV ad. _All hail gay heavens for making me naturally tan._  

Pleased with the choice of the bottoms, he quickly put a neon pink tank top on, one he got at one of the LGBTQ+ rallies last year. All the letters represented a new color of the rainbow, and there were specks of glued glitter all over, and it made Eddie giddy and excited. He put on white socks and a pair of ankle-high white chucks, proud of how clean they were after two years that he owned them. His hair was pleasantly curly thanks to the product he used when he blow dried it, and his lips were covered in gloss similar to the one Richie had. 

 _Richie._ Thinking about him made Eddie’s breath catch in his throat; the speed at which his feelings were picking up worried him. _I read too many books._ It’s not that it would be horrible to date someone in college, but Eddie had a feeling of impending doom on any relationship for at least one specific reason. But somehow, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop the wave of emotion that overcame him anytime he thought of Richie.

 

 **Edward:** _Hey! Would you like to join me at an LGBTQ+ rally today? I_ _’m not assuming anything about your sexuality, just want you to come :D_

 

Eddie thought that the whole event would go by a lot calmer if he had someone other than Richie by his side. His nervousness was really messing up his chances of being charming.

 

 **Bear** **:** _LOL I wouldn_ _’t mind if you assumed, but I’d love to. Want to meet at the library?_

 

He really tried to ignore the fact that Ben avoided his hint at finding out if he’s straight.

 

 **Edward:** _Yes! See you there in 15?_

**Bear** **:** _You got it!_

 

Eddie saw Ben approaching the library precisely fifteen minutes later, wearing a white polo and light blue jeans. _Yup, definitely straight._ As disappointed as he was, he could still admire Ben’s toned wide body and his shiny light brown hair, smiling warmly at him. Not that Eddie was interested, but it wouldn’t hurt to not be fixated on one goddamn man.

Ben hugged Eddie tight as soon as he approached, and the small boy was instantly grateful for yet another time that week that they met each other. They had so many things in common that it felt like reuniting with an old friend. “Eddie, you look amazing!”

Eddie’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. “Thanks, bear. And you look... Super straight,” said Eddie, deciding to break down the wall entirely.

“Yeah, well, what are you gonna do? I am, I guess,” said Ben blushing a bit and shrugging his shoulders. 

“You guess? Are you not sure or something?” asked Eddie without a mocking tone.

“It’s the 21st century. Is anyone sure?” asked Ben, smiling at Eddie warmly.

The small boy snorted. “Guess not. C’mon, we’re running late."

 

 **baby love:** _We_ _’re almost there. Are you at the rally already?_

 **Cute Turd:** _we? O_o_

Eddie giggled.

 

 **baby love:** _Are you jealous? ;)_

 **Cute Turd:** _should I be?! tf_

 **baby love:** _You didn_ _’t answer my question, dumbass._

 **Cute Turd:** _you kinda killed the mood spaghet_

 **baby love:** _I guess we_ _’ll turn back then._

 **Cute Turd:** _na AH ya ain_ _’t_

**baby love:** _What did I tell you about texting like a human being?_

 **Cute Turd:** _I_ _’m not human._

 **baby love:** _For fuck_ _’s sake._

 **Cute Turd:** _ooooh look at my spaghetti gettin all riled up_

 **baby love:** _First, not yours. Second, I_ _’m not that innocent :)_

 **Cute Turd:** _um hello??? I just got a boner, thanks for embarrassing me in front of dozens of people, Eds_

 **baby love:** _Well, at least now I know that you_ _’re there._

 **Cute Turd:** _I_ _’m right by the stage,_ _babe waitin for you_

 **baby love:** _Not a babe. See you in 5._

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Stanley, my husband is approaching!” Richie screamed straight into his best friend’s ear, imitating one of his broken British accents.

“I swear, I’m going to _plotz_ if you don’t shut up about your _goy_ crush.”

Richie gasped very loud, making a couple of people turn around in his direction. “You don’t approve because he isn’t Jewish?!”

“I don’t approve because he is British, and I’m honestly pretty sure that he’s non-existent,” said Stanley, squinting his eyes aggressively at the other man.

“Are you racist?!” Richie’s scream rung through the open air again and people turned around once more, now pure amusement plastered on their faces.

Stan now looked actually annoyed. “Are you a fucking idiot? What does being British have anything to do with race?”

“ _Oy Vey!_ _”_ Richie exclaimed, and Stanley was about to accost him with all the Yiddish offenses he could remember when someone violently bumped into him, causing him to fall on the ground along with the pink solo cup he was holding.

Stanley’s beer spilled all over his white tank top, and some got in his curls, at which Richie clasped a hand over his mouth to refrain from gasping dramatically again.

“What the...” before Stan got to raise his voice at the offender, the boy who knocked him over recovered a little from where he fell on the palms of his hands and offered Stanley his arm after he rubbed the grass dirt on his dark jeans.

“I’m s-so s-sorry. S-some jock pushed me,” said a brown-haired boy, still leaning ahead and waiting for Stanley to take his hand.

There was a big pause where Stan was blatantly staring until he recovered himself. “That’s okay. Happens to the best of us,” he said and smiled nervously at the green-eyed boy, taking his hand.

Richie could see goose bumps forming on Stanley’s shoulder, and his hand fell from shock, observing how _nice_ Stan was acting. He had never seen his friend be so sweet to a stranger before (or to anyone he knew).

“I’m B-Bill, by the way. S-sorry again,” said the boy, still holding Stanley’s hand gently.

“I’m Stan. And please, stop apologizing. I guess when you go to a big gay party, something like this is bound to happen,” said Stan beaming.

“Um, I’m right here?” said Richie, waving a hand in front of his face.

“Oh, I’m s-sorry,” said Bill, reluctantly letting go of Stan’s hand. “I’m Bill,” he reached out a hand for Richie to shake.

Instead, the tall boy hugged Bill tight with the arm that wasn’t holding a solo cup and ruffled his hair a bit. “Anyone who makes Staniel smile deserved an embrace!”

“T-thanks, I guess,” said Bill trying to fix his hair and blushing a little, eyeing Stan from the corner of his eye.

“So what brings you here?” asked Stanley, trying to sound casual.

“Woooow, Stan the Man. That wasn’t subtle at all,” said Richie giggling.

Stanley gave him a death glare before changing his expression to smile nervously at Bill who was laughing at Richie’s sarcasm. “I w-work for the school newspaper, and it just happens to b-be convenient that I’m t-the only gay guy there,” said Bill, looking at Stan pointedly.

Richie looked at his best friend and saw his eyes glittering, and his chest fluttered happily that at least _someone_ is going to finally get him laid and make all that negative energy leave his system.

“W-which reminds me. Would you guys be willing to d-do an interview really quickly? I’m collecting a p-poll to see how many happy g-gay couples are on campus,” said Bill, pulling out an orange pocket Moleskine.

There was a second of silence before both Richie and Stan erupted in hysterical fits of laughter, doubling over and holding onto each other not to fall. It has been almost a minute of Bill staring at them with wide eyes, fidgeting with the strap of his notebook.

Richie still had tears in his eyes when he straightened up, small bubbly laughter coming off of him. “Oh, Billiam, I know you didn’t say it to find out whether he’s single or not because you’re just too pure, but me and Stan would _never_ happen. I can’t handle his sass, and he can’t handle my energy. Also, my heart belongs to a British prince.”

Bill blushed a little at the sudden knowledge of Stanley being single. “You mean Prince Harry?”

“Why you think he’s hot?” asked Richie, winking.

“He is, but he’s not really my type,” said Bill, looking warmly at Stan who was staring at the green-eyed boy like a creep.

Richie was about to explain what he meant by ‘British prince’ before the aforementioned deity stepped through the crowd all cute and bright, and _oh my fucking god._ The tall boy took off in his direction so fast that he carelessly threw his cup into Stanley’s hands, making the cheap beer spill over his shirt again. Stan tried to throw if after him but he was running too fast, and it never reached him.

Richie ran up to Eddie, and before the other one could react, he grabbed him under the ass and lifted him up, holding his body straight above him, pleased that with how short he was, his face wasn’t that far even in that position.

“Spaghetti!” screamed Richie and tucked his forehead into Eddie’s stomach, rubbing it and making the other giggle. _Oh, that sound._

“Stop it, you idiot! There are people around, we’re not at the zoo,” said Eddie loudly but with amusement in his voice, looking down at Richie with a glint in his eyes.

“We’re at the gay zoo, my dear Eds,” said Richie blowing a raspberry on Eddie’s stomach through the tank top. The small boy grabbed onto Richie’s hair in the midst of laughter and didn’t let go, curling the long ends with his index finger.

“That’s my friend Ben, but he’s Benjamin to you,” said Eddie, pointing at the sturdy boy who could’ve passed for a football player.

“My hands are occupied with precious treasure, but if it wasn’t, I would be threatening you with all my strength because I will fight for this scone even if I have to duel you,” said Richie very fast and his face was dead straight as if he meant every word.

Ben did a double take and raised a hand in defeat. “I promise I make no claims to thy lover’s heart,” said Ben in a _very_ good British accent at which Eddie giggled.

“Oh, Benny, then we’re gonna be best friends!” exclaimed Richie and leaned over quickly to kiss Ben’s cheek, making the other blush a tomato color.

“Stop embarrassing him and let’s go watch the people on stage!” said Eddie and started wiggling in Richie’s arms at which the tall boy just hardened the grip.

“You’re not going anywhere, my love. You’re stuck with me,” said Richie, looking up at Eddie lovingly.

Eddie could feel his insides melt. He quickly fixed Richie’s bright yellow glasses that sat crookedly on his nose from all the fidgeting and tugged his hair back to make the other look him straight in the eye.

“Would you just fucking move towards the stage, _love_?” said Eddie, knowing that it will shut Richie up instantly. Not that he minded saying it.

Richie’s face straightened, and his cheeks tinted pink. “Y-yes, your majesty.”

They walked in the direction of Stan and Bill who were animatedly discussing something. Ben was walking by Richie and Eddie, and the small boy kept looking at him to make sure he was comfortable there – he didn’t want to impose on Ben trying to figure out who he is be bringing him there. But he was smiling all around, observing the rally and looking towards the stage where a small pop school band was playing one of the Lady Gaga covers.

Richie turned a little sideways to make sure that Stan sees his face, still holding Eddie under his small butt. “See Stan? Spaghetti is very real,” said Richie, shaking Eddie up and down a little to identify the objective of the conversation.

Stanley first looked at Richie judgmentally for forcing the boy to sit on his lanky arms and then at Eddie who was still holding one hand in Richie’s hand, more for protection but also because _Richie_ , and the other waved nervously at the two boys who were gawking at him.

“How the fuck did you land a guy like that?” asked Stan, genuinely enamored by Eddie.

“Well, he didn’t actually land me _yet,_ but it must be his never-ending word vomit that charmed me to go on this date,” said Eddie and the other two boys were just staring in fascination.

“So the British part wasn’t made up either?” asked Stan, not leaving his eyes from Eddie, knowing that it will irritate the living crap out of Richie.

“Hey, Stanley, go flirt with your own crush,” said Richie with a visibly irritated face, and Eddie couldn’t tell if he should be worried that Richie is already jealous of him or flattered.

He chose flattered and traced a finger on Richie’s cheekbone, making the other’s features soften and look at Eddie as if he was some kind of divinity.

Stanley snorted but his demeanor was broken as soon as he looked at Bill, and the nervous blushing came back to play.

“You g-guys look like a Roy Purdy s-sandwich,” said Bill, pointing at Richie and Eddie.

Richie was wearing am an almost neon green shirt that must have been a dress at some point because it was cut on the sides up to his waist revealing short jean shorts, with the front and back flailing around, almost reaching the ground. It was also probably a turtleneck because the area around the throat and chest was cut into an uneven V, with some of his dark hairs sticking out that Eddie hasn’t noticed before. The small boy also just detected the candy necklace on Richie’s neck, and he suddenly had the hardest desire to bite into it, and maybe lick Richie’s neck. _Oh, hey, whoa. Slow the fuck down, Kaspbrak._ He also had tattoos on both of his shoulders, all in bright colors, leading into his back. Eddie _really_ wanted to see the rest of them.

“Sweet baby jesus, we do!” squealed Richie, jumping up with Eddie.

“God almighty, put me down!” screamed Eddie, laughing at Richie’s enthusiasm.

“No can do! You can sit on my shoulders if you want,” said Richie, looking up at Eddie hopefully.

“How on earth do you think I’m going to get up there?”

“You’re already halfway there, Spaghetti. I’ll help you. Trust me?”

Eddie would be lying if those puppy eyes didn’t work _every goddamn time._ “Ughhh, fine. But only because I can’t see the stage!” exclaimed a small boy, pointing at Richie in mock threat.

“Whatever you say, my sweet scone.”

Everyone was wheezing at the awkward way in which they were both trying to put Eddie on Richie’s shoulders without actually letting him down on the ground. At that point, it was the matter of accomplishing a task, and neither of them were willing to give up. Richie hoisted Eddie up higher, and the other swung one of his legs on Richie’s shoulder, thankful for the gymnastics classes in his childhood. The biggest problem was that no matter how hard they tried, Eddie’s crotch magically ended up in Richie’s face, and it was making both of them blush feverishly, and Richie was getting seriously concerned with that fact that his body might just betray him any second. Before either of them could think too much about it though, Richie put a hand on the very beginning of Eddie’s thigh, almost touching his ass, and pulled him up even higher, and the other quickly shimmied around Richie’s head, surprised at how strong the tall boy was. _Because that_ _’_ _s not a turn on at all. Nah._

Eddie finally positioned himself on Richie’s shoulders, rolling his eyes and giggling at how ridiculous the two of them were. Richie’s hands were burning him where they held onto his thighs, and he felt himself flush full-force from seeing that Richie’s hand covered almost half of his thigh. _Oh, someone out there really wants me to be a slut tonight._ Eddie shook his head and clutched onto Richie’s hair, jokingly maneuvering him as if he was a robot. The tall man quickly complied with the joke but quickly took it too far when he leaned over, and Eddie almost fell forward, tugging on the other’s hair so much that Richie screamed.

They ended up spending most of the day at the rally where there were tiny glitter explosions emanating from the stage, the most delicious cocktails that Eddie kept drinking on Richie’s shoulders, bouncing happily, and the other three were engaged in animated conversations the whole time, drinking beer after beer from their neon pink solo cups. As the rally/party was coming to a close, they were all sitting on the grass, Richie lying down between Eddie’s legs, Stan in his new shirt sitting next to Bill, shoulders touching, and Ben was sitting cross-legged, smiling at the sky in a drunken haze.

“H-hey guys, I don’t w-want this to end y-yet. Do you w-want to come hang in m-my apartment?” asked Bill, mostly looking at red-cheeked Stanley.

“You know it, Big Bill! Why would you even ask?” said Richie, looking up at Eddie who was already looking at him adoringly, playing with the black curls. “Will you come?” asked Richie, pointing the question to the small boy.

“If you are,” said Eddie, smiling at Richie sheepishly. The tall boy merely nodded, feeling like goo.

“Can we walk there? I really don’t think any of us can drive,” said Ben, swirling the remaining beer in his cup.

Stan snorted “I don’t think any of us own a car.”

“It’s three s-stops on the subway unless you guys want to w-walk thirty-five minutes,” said Bill with his speech slurred a bit.

Everyone groaned in unison and so they decided to ride a subway together. Needless to say, it turned out to be much more fun than they expected. Eddie was drunk enough to not have a care in the world, and he ended up turning on _Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl”_ and dancing around the pole with the rest of the train clapping at him. Richie was sitting down, transfixed with the image of Eddie rolling his hips, crossing his legs to hide the pulsating hard-on. He ended up taking his phone out and filming the whole thing in an attempt to distract himself. Stan and Bill were acting as back up dancers, their moves sloppy but ridiculously funny. Ben was sitting on the opposite side, singing along surprisingly well. There was a guy sitting with a bouquet of red roses that were probably intended for his wife that he ended up giving to Eddie before the group exited the train, and they all laughed at that the rest of the way to Bill’s apartment.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Denbrough’s apartment was super cozy, with enough space for about four roommates. It was bigger than Richie’s, but most of the space was in the living room and kitchen area, while Stan and Richie’s place had bigger bedrooms. There weren’t that many windows but there were fairy lights in the living room that gave it a very warm glow, and nothing about the place indicated that a boy lived there – it was cozy, and most of the colors consisted of brown, maroon and beige. It looked like a writer’s place but also had a touch of feminine, which somehow worked perfectly with Bill.

“Billiam, aren’t your parents gonna kill us for hanging at their place plastered?” asked Richie, stumbling inside with Eddie under his arm.

“I d-don’t live with my parents. I l-live with my brother,” said Bill, putting the keys on a white kitchen counter and making his way to the fridge to pull some beer out.

“Your brother must be really successful then,” said Ben, walking around the living room with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Oh, n-no. I m-mean, he’s great, but he’s younger than m-me.”

As if on cue, a brown-haired boy came out of one of the bedrooms down the hall in Star Wars pajamas, all long pants, and long sleeves, looking like a lab-generated smaller version of Bill.

“Hey, Billy,” said the brother, waving his hand shyly at everyone and coming by to kiss Bill on the cheek.

Everyone ‘aaaawwww’ed loudly and Bill smiled sincerely, ruffling his brother’s already messy hair. “Hey, Georgie. You f-feeling better?”

“I’m fine. Just need to rest. I was supposed to meet with my group to rehearse today, but I couldn’t really get out of bed.”

“It’s okay. D-does your teacher know?”

“Yeah, I emailed her after I canceled with them. She’s strict, but she understands,” said Georgie, making a way to the fridge and getting a bottle of water, his green eyes a little glassy.

“D-do you want to watch a m-movie with us?” asked Bill, and Richie noticed that Stan’s eyes were watery with adoration.

“No, it’s okay, Billy. You have fun. I have some stuff to rehearse anyway,” said Georgie and waved to everyone again before going back to the bedroom and closing the door.

“Okay, that is the cutest kid in the world,” said Richie leaning back into Eddie who was sitting on the counter with his legs on either side of the tall boy’s hips.

“He’s great. He s-suffers from psoriasis, and it’s been especially bad lately. M-must be the warm weather,” said Bill taking a sip from the beer can.

“My aunt has that. It’s ghastly honestly. She always says it’s torture,” said Eddie, peeking from behind Richie where he was busy braiding the back of his head. He was painfully aware of Richie’s trailing fingers on his knee.

“It is. But he’s s-strong.”

Stand took Bill’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “How old is he?”

“He’s fourteen. He goes to a p-performing arts high school on a f-full scholarship. But he’s ahead b-because he was homeschooled in m-middle school, so he’s graduating in two years. 

Ben whistled in fascination. “Lil’ genius,” he said, smiling widely at Bill which the other returned.

“He is. Mom and d-dad trust us enough to l-live here alone. They’re in Long Island.” Bill smiled and looked at Stan longingly.

“Do you guys still want to watch the movie?” asked Ben, making his way to the living room and plopping down on the couch.

“Yeah!” exclaimed Stan and lifted a hand with beer into the air in excitement. Bill laughed and led him to the couch to sit down next to Ben.

Richie spun around quickly to face Eddie who smirked at him in the most insanely sexy way, and Richie’s smile instantly dropped, replaced by some humming in his lower belly.

“I haven't finished braiding your hair,” said Eddie, reading out to tug on one of the braids.

Richie had to clear his throat before speaking. “Your legs are so smooth,” he said, rubbing both hands on top of Eddie’s thighs.

Eddie’s smirk dropped, and he swallowed audibly. “I don’t like body hair.”

“Not at all?” asked Richie, smirking a little.

Eddie’s eyes dropped to some black chest hair that was poking out of Richie’s shirt, and his heart jumped up a little. “Maybe some,” he said, tugging at the hairs above the V.

Richie leaned in a little and Eddie could smell the mix of candy and beer there that should’ve been disgusting but was making his shorts very constricting instead. Richie brushed his nose on Eddie’s temple and shamelessly breathed in, his body shaking a little from the scent of Eddie’s shampoo.

“Did you enjoy our second date?” asked Richie against the shell of Eddie’s ear and he could feel goosebumps on his skin appear so quickly that it _stung._

“Yeah,” answered Eddie, barely breathing the word out. He was close to Richie’s shoulder now, and he was curious. “What are your tattoos?” The small boy traced his finger on the tall boy’s shoulder.

“Wanna see?” Richie leaned back a little and after Eddie nodded excitedly, quickly taking off the dress/shirt and throwing it on the counter next to Eddie, standing up to him sideways.

Eddie could now clearly see how low Richie’s shorts were sitting on his hips, barely covering half of his thighs, with red Calvin Klein boxers peeking out from the top. There was a dark trail of hair leading down from his navel that Eddie let his eyes linger on, and then he remembered _tattoos, we_ _’_ _re here for tattoos. Behave!_

“You like?” asked Richie with an amused expression, searching Eddie’s face.

“Is that Roger Rabbit?” asked Eddie, tracing the long white ears of the bunny that wrapped around the back of Richie’s shoulder.

“Yup. And his wife, of course,” said Richie, almost turning his back to Eddie entirely, revealing a cartoon scene with curvy Jessica Rabbit standing by the animated police car.

Eddie giggled. “This is fucking stellar, honestly.”

“Really?” asked Richie, almost breaking his neck from swerving it back to look at beaming Eddie.

“Are you joking? Who doesn’t like _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_?” said Eddie and kissed the back of Richie’s shoulder, biting down on his lower lip afterward, afraid that he made a mistake.

Richie turned around again and put his hands on either side of Eddie. “Cut it off.”

“Why?” asked Eddie challengingly.

“Because I’m trying to be a gentleman and not maul you on our second date.” Richie’s eyes were black behind his glasses.

Eddie was drunk and horny, and _what the hell._ He tugged on Richie’s shorts to bring him flush to the counter and scooted down a little, their bodies almost touching, but _not there yet._ He leaned over but instead of kissing him he licked the top of Richie’s lip playfully and slowly, and he could feel Richie’s body shake where he was holding onto his bicep. Richie’s lips parted in anticipation of a kiss but it never came, and Eddie leaned back with a smug expression on his face.

Richie’s heart was hammering out of his chest, and his body was _definitely_ betraying him now because his shorts were downright unbearable now. _The little devil._

“Oh, no you didn’t,” said Richie and was about to lunge and Eddie when the small boy pushed him unexpectedly and ran down the hallway to the bathroom, giggling on his way there.

Richie let his head drop and laughed, trying to take deep breaths to calm himself down and will the pant tent away. His upper lip was still wet, and he licked it, savoring the sweetness of Eddie. He pulled a shirt back onto himself and finished a can of beer quickly before making his way into the living room.

“Did you choose a movie yet?” asked Richie, plopping down on one of the armchairs sideways, letting his legs dangle off the edge.

“No,” said Stan, rolling his eyes. “We can’t agree on one thing.”

“Then we’re watching _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_ ,” said Richie and reached a hand out to request the remote.

Stan snatched it from Bill’s hand and leaned over to give it to Richie, who knew that there was not a person in the room who wouldn’t want to watch it.

“W-what’s that?” asked Bill, looking between Richie and Stan.

“You’ve never seen that movie?” asked Stan looking at Bill pointedly.

“N-no,” confessed Bill guiltily.

“Oooooh, Billiam, you better like it, or you don’t stand a chance with the Jewish menace.”

Bill flushed a little and looked at Stan nervously. The other wrapped his arm around him and smiled reassuringly.

Eddie entered the room with flushed cheeks, hopping to an armchair on the opposite side of the room from Richie. He laid down sideways as well, mirroring Richie’s position and winked at him before turning his head to look at Ben’s silently snoring form on the couch. Richie let his eyes rake over Eddie’s body, and he had a fleeting thought that he should’ve followed the small boy into the bathroom. _Oh hell._

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much gay in this chapter, I love it!
> 
> in case you're wondering, Bev was finishing up her project in Parsons and Mike had football practice, so they weren't there
> 
> Edward, what were you doing in that bathroom *wink* *wink*
> 
> 'plotz' - explode  
> 'goy' - non-Jewish  
> 'Oy Vey' - mostly just an exclamation of annoyance
> 
> leave comments looooves


	6. Picasso

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie and Eddie have an unplanned third date.

“Eddie? Edward, I can’t see you! Where did you go?” Sonia’s voice was ringing through Eddie’s dorm room, and he reached towards the volume down button without bringing his head up.

Eddie’s head was indeed on his hands that were propped right on the mousepad of his MacBook, and all he wanted was to get some sleep during the weekend. He was extremely cranky because of the week he had in school: at least three quizzes, two ten page essays and Audra decided to make his life a living hell by making him work M-F. At least he had the next two days off and it meant he could finally see Richie.

_Richie._ He hasn’t seen him since that day in Bill’s apartment and he was getting physically itchy to just sprint to his place even though he had no idea where he lived. Eddie wasn’t exactly old school but he did usually want to know his partner well before attacking them with his mouth (or body). But with Richie, all of his usual resolve was going _straight to shit._ The universe just had to present him with a perfect specimen during the hardest weeks of the semester. _Um, thanks, world._

“I’m here, ma,” muttered Eddie without lifting his head.

“Eddie, could you pay attention, please? I’m trying to tell you about me and Bob’s week.”

_Right. Bob. Mum’s new boy toy. More like middle-aged-with-a-bald-head toy. I mean seriously, what did she find in that guy?_

“I _am_ listening, ma. It’s bloody seven o’clock in the morning on a _Saturday_ ,” said Eddie basically whining, his chin now on his hands and only some of his curls visible in the small FaceTime window.

“Watch your tone, young man. I’ll have you know that Bob never curses – you should learn,” said Sonia, pointing her finger at the screen.

“I will learn whatever is needed of a man from dad, thanks,” said Eddie finally lifting his head. _This conversation needs to be over NOW._

“Do not speak of your father in front of me, Edward. He is basically deceased to me.”

“Well, he’s _not_ deceased, he’s fucking alive and thriving, and I will only ever take his advice on things, thank you very much,” said Eddie, rolling his eyes. 

“Watch your foul mouth, young man. And cut your hair – it looks ghastly." 

“I like it. I’m not cutting it.”

“You are becoming a free-spirited American. It’s unacceptable, I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Monarchy forever. The Queen is disappointed. I get it.”

“Right she is, Edward. Are you still taking your vitamins?”

“I am, mum. Every morning,” said Eddie through gritted teeth. His vitamin D deficiency is probably the only thing that was _actually_ wrong with his body.

His phone vibrated next to his laptop on the table, and he grabbed it to look at the received text.

 

**Cute Turd:** _when can I see you_

Eddie grinned at the phone.

 

“Ma, I really need to go get some sleep,” said Eddie, trying to get his mom to get by with her business.

“Alright, Bob is going to come from work any minute. He has been working weekends almost every week now, the poor thing.”

“That’s horrifying. Have a good night.”

“Ta-ta, Eddie-bear. Don’t forget the vitamins!”

“Goodbye,” said Eddie and finally clicked on a red button next to his mother’s frozen face.

 

**baby love:** _Why on Earth are you awake?_

**Cute Turd:** _spaghetti!!!!_

**baby love:** _Ugh, why are you so enthusiastic this early in the morning?_

**Cute Turd:** _because you responded to me??? almost instantly??? I_ _’_ _m blessed_

**baby love:** _You make me sound like a text monster._

**Cute Turd:** _but you are!! but a cute one_

**baby love:** _Alright, I_ _’_ _m going back to sleep._

**Cute Turd:** _oh I_ _’_ _m sorry Eds did I wake you up_

**baby love:** _No, my mum did. It_ _’_ _s midday there, and she considered that the only time that she could possibly dedicate to speaking to me._

**Cute Turd:** _aawwwhhh my spaghetti was interrupted! how dare she, do you want me to come over and spoon you to sleep?_

Eddie’s heart jumped at the thought.

 

**baby love:** _Sure. I_ _’_ _m in the Carlyle Court on Union Square. C2 Tower. Text me when you_ _’_ _re here, I_ _’_ _ll come down to get you._

There hasn’t been a response for almost a minute.

 

**baby love:** _Did you fall asleep?_

**Cute Turd:** _wait r u serious?_

**baby love:** _About what?_

**Cute Turd:** _me coming to see you and spooning you_

**baby love:** _Well, if you keep stalling there will be no spooning. But, yeah. I want you to come._

**Cute Turd:** _omfg_

**Cute Turd:** _I_ _’_ _m a little overwhelmed, but I_ _’_ _ll be there as soon as my heart recovers_

**baby love:** _I_ _’_ _ll take a nap in the meantime. I don_ _’_ _t know how far from me you live._

**Cute Turd:** _not too far my love!! I_ _’_ _ll be there in 20_

Sure enough, a little over twenty minutes later Eddie has received a text that Richie was there, not that he could get any sleep because of how excited he was. He hasn’t seen him in a week and it must’ve been the desperation after the conversation with his mom that drove him to throw his dignity off a cliff and straight into the pits of hell.

Eddie hopped down the hall from the elevators to the entrance, waving to the security lady behind the glass window of her tiny room. Richie was standing next to the bulletin board by the entrance, wearing a bright yellow Adidas tracksuit with white high ankle Vans, and Eddie thought he died and woke up in boy heaven. Richie’s hair was halfway wet and his backpack was full of stickers ranging from _Adventure Time_ to _Harry Potter_ and Eddie wanted to outright scream from how happy he was to see that dork. 

“Rich,” whispered Eddie, leaning on the large metal ID reader that separated them.

Richie turned his head towards the voice and found Eddie’s face, his curls disheveled and full, face slightly pink and eyes glowy. _Oh, kill me now._ It didn’t help one bit that Eddie was wearing a large mint green sweatshirt with grey sweatpants – he looked like he was begging to be kissed all over. _Oh, I want to kiss him everywhere._

“Hi,” said Richie dreamily, a couple of pamphlets falling from his hands.

Eddie giggled and pointed to the floor so that the tall boy would finally recover them. Richie bent down and stuck them all in one pile back where he got them on the wall and turned back to Eddie, pushing his glasses closer to his face.

“Do I just hop over?” asked Richie pointing at the separation.

“No, you blockhead, you have to swipe your student ID,” said Eddie rolling his eyes and crossing the arms. “Have you never been in the student dorms before?” 

“Na-ah. I live in an apartment, don’t like the dorms,” said Richie, opening the small compartment in the front of his backpack.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Too controlling. Too little space,” said Richie shrugging and swiped his ID, stepping close to Eddie. “Well, hey there.” Richie leaned down and kissed the other boy’s cheek quickly, both of them blushing a little.

“You can put that away,” said Eddie pointing at the ID hanging off Richie’s long fingers. He noticed that the neck strand was bright pink and covered with breast cancer awareness symbols. 

Eddie started walking in the direction of the elevators and leaned on the wall yawning and stretching his back a little. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that Richie was standing on the other side of the elevator frame, his eyes lingering somewhere on the waistband of Eddie’s sweatpants. Eddie was itching to touch him.

The doors opened and they stepped in, Richie staying unnaturally quiet – it was unusual and Eddie wasn’t sure what to do about it. They stood very close to each other, Eddie’s back to Richie, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up from proximity. 

They finally reached their floor and Eddie took a right turn and walked until the end of the corridor, pushing his unlocked door open. He stood holding the door to Richie who smiled wide at him, taking in the surroundings. As he passed by Eddie, the small boy got a whiff of pine and something very sweet, making him impatient for contact. _Well, I never wanted to fuck a pine tree before_ _–_ _guess, it_ _’_ _s time!_

Richie was standing at the end of the (three-twin) king bed, leaning his hands on the end wooden frame. “Damn, Eds, those are some royal quarters.”

“I know. My roommate and I used it to our advantage that the other roommate hasn’t shown,” said Eddie, crawling to the middle of the bed and sitting cross-legged in front of Richie.

“You look so cozy right now, I think I might explode,” said Richie leaning forward and putting his hands on either side of Eddie’s pretzeled legs.

“Why don’t you just get in here and spoon me like you promised?” said Eddie raising his eyebrow but feeling a lot less confident with Richie leaning over him. In his bed. With curtains drawn.

“I have a serious question to ask you before we get into it,” said Richie, his nose touching Eddie’s.

“Go on.” Eddie’s voice was more of a whimper. 

“Are you a big spoon or a little spoon?” asked Richie and Eddie hit him on the arm before crawling to his side of the bed.

“Big spoon,” answered Eddie burying himself in the large white duvet.

“Well, that means you’ll be the one doing the spooning, innit?” said Richie, zipping off the jacket of his tracksuit and putting it on the floor with the backpack.

Eddie looked up at him and practically drooled at how good Richie looked in a simple white V-neck. “Sure. Or we could double spoon.”

“What is a double spoon?” asked Richie taking off his Vans.

“Something like both of us hugging each other. Forget it,” said Eddie, covering his face with the duvet from embarrassment.

He felt the bed dip around him and knew that Richie crawled over him to lie down closer to the middle, but still ridiculously close to Eddie. Eddie felt a finger poking at his chest and slid down the duvet to reveal his face. “What?”

“You’re like a cartoon I dreamed up,” said Richie, kissing the tip of Eddie’s nose. _Oh, I_ _’_ _m done for._

“Are you going to get in or do I have to shove you in here?” asked Eddie flustered by the kiss, lifting the duvet up to gesture towards the open space.

Richie didn’t lose a second of time and picked up his ridiculously long legs to stick them in the opening, lying down sideways right next to Eddie’s form on the back. He propped his head on the elbow and waited. Eddie eventually lost patience and turned to face Richie, and _oh god almighty his handsome stupid face is so close._

“Hi, Eds,” said Richie dreamily, his finger trailing over Eddie’s cheekbone, his minty breath making Eddie’s stomach turn inside out.

“Hi,” responded Eddie sweetly, completely melting from Richie’s honey-coated voice. _Fucking nickname._

“See, it wasn’t so hard not to be grumpy,” said Richie grinning.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “We’re in bed, idiot, of course I’m not grumpy anymore.”

“I like the first part of that sentence,” said Richie wiggling his eyebrows.

“What? Us being in bed?” asked Eddie felt the blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Yeah. You can’t blame me for luuuurving the sound of that,” purred Richie and his hand dropped to caress Eddie’s shoulder through the sweatshirt. _I wish I wore a t-shirt._

Eddie scooted even closer, noticing how Richie’s smile was faltering the closer he got. “I think you have to turn around in order for me to spoon you,” he said, his lips almost touching Richie’s.

“I don’t want to turn around yet,” said Richie, his face leaning even more forward.

“Why?” asked Eddie cockily, rubbing the tip of his nose on Richie’s and saw the other boy close his eyes.

“Because I want to kiss you,” said Richie and his eyes opened, large and honest, glistening with hope. _Oh, I shouldn_ _’_ _t be falling for him this fast._

“So kiss me already,” whispered Eddie right onto the other boy’s mouth. Before Richie got to lean in more, Eddie took his glasses off and placed them on the night stand, turning back to trace his finger over the little dent in his nose that the glasses created. 

Richie caught his hand and opened it, kissing the inside of his palm. Eddie felt like the human embodiment of goo. Then Richie kissed his wrist and moved to the side of his face, kissing him between the ear and the cheek. He then turned to do the other side, kissing Eddie’s face longingly, pausing every now and then to let his lips linger there. Eddie’s stomach felt like ripping open to let out all of the shit that’s kicking him from the inside.

Eddie angled his face just a tiny bit and kissed the edge of Richie’s mouth, at which the other boy froze. Eddie knew that if he kissed him now, in the dim light of his bedroom, this close on the _bed_ and basically in their pajamas, a dam will break and he might not be able to stop. _Ah, fuck it._

Eddie leaned in more and their lips touched, but they didn’t take their time with it – from the sudden elation of finally kissing each other, both opened their mouths wider and their tongues touched only seconds after, and Eddie felt both of them shiver. It was overwhelming and maybe too fast, and too passionate but hell if Eddie didn’t want it with every fiber of his being. His leg somehow found its way between Richie’s legs and their lips were moving faster, the sounds of their ragged breathing making the air heavy.

Eddie wasn’t exactly sure how it happened but they were now flush with each other, his hands in Richie’s hair and the other boy’s hands traveling all over Eddie’s body. Richie grabbed his ass to press him closer and Eddie gasped in the kiss, his brain a complete mush, and everything felt _hot._ Eddie grabbed Richie’s hand that was on his lower back and guided it under the sweatshirt, and he realized it was a big mistake because he wasn’t even half-hard anymore, and his thoughts were a jumbled obscenity mess. 

Richie bit Eddie’s lower lip and the boy moaned, unable to control anything going on with his body. Richie pulled away and turned around quickly, burying his face in the middle pillow. Eddie laid back down on his back staring at the ceiling and giggled, feeling giddy and _oh so first love-ish._ But it was too soon to go there, so he just clasped his hands onto his mouth to avoid laughing too loud, and brought his knees to the stomach to hide his very obvious sweatpants tent.

Richie groaned into the pillow, and Eddie looked to the side, blushing at the sight of Richie’s starfish form taking up the rest of the bed. Something about his long lean body was practically contributing to Eddie’s hard on. 

“‘M sawry,” mumbled Richie through the pillow.

Eddie snorted, holding his legs pressed against the chest. “What are you sorry for?”

Richie put his head to the side looking at Eddie and he could’ve _died_ at how adorable he looked. “That I almost jizzed my pants just by making out with you.”

Eddie could see a prominent blush on Richie’s face and he giggled. “You’re not alone. I guess our control is about as good as of a fourteen-year-old boy.” 

“Yeah,” said Richie and bit his lower lip, staring all over Eddie’s face. 

“You’re staring again, stalker,” said Eddie, mirroring Richie’s bite.

“I like you a lot,” said Richie, scooting a little closer.

Eddie turned with his knees, afraid of trusting himself without something separating them, but they still ended up mere inches from each other. “I really like you too.”

Richie was grinning from ear to ear. “Could you still spoon me? I haven’t slept all night doing a project, and I think I need a nap,” he said apologetically.

“Yeah,” said Eddie releasing his knees and Richie turned around to lie down with his back to Eddie.

Eddie was still afraid of pressing into him, being _still_ half-hard, _of course,_ so he did his best at hugging Richie from behind without attaching his chest to the other boy’s back. But then Eddie got an idea to get out of the duvet and have that as a bit of a cushion against his crotch, and pressed in against Richie’s body as much as he could. Richie smelled of something sticky sweet, something that made his insides boil and melt, and the smell of pine wasn’t helping his already growing infatuation. He could smell old scent of cigarettes on him but it was barely there, as if it stayed on his clothes even after a wash.

Eddie heard Richie snore silently within barely three minutes and stayed awake for a little while to listen to his breathing and get used to the scent that was already his most favorite in the world. Eddie drifted off with thoughts that he has never liked anyone this much before.

 

 

 

A buzzing sound on the nightstand of Eddie’s room woke him up for the nth time that week, and he cursed everyone on Earth, still attached to his dream. He reached out for it but couldn’t feel anything but empty space as his hand reached out for the phone and lifted his head to look around. Eddie’s head was lying right next to Richie’s feet that were almost hanging off the bed, and one of his arms was hooked into Richie’s ankle. Half-asleep he almost fell down from the bed, trying to detach from Richie as quietly as possible. The tall boy stirred but didn’t wake up, both of his arms outstretched through the entire bed. Eddie sat down on the floor with his back to the nightstand to check his phone.

 

**Girlfriend:** _boyfrieeeend can I come over? I have sooo much to tell you, my day has been insane_

**boyfrieeeend:** _Hi, L. Thank you for waking me up._

**Girlfriend:** _oh stop being a grouch monster, it_ _’_ _s almost 1pm_

Eddie looked at the time above Luna’s name, and his eyes widened at how long they napped.

 

**boyfrieeeend:** _Oh, shit. Sorry. I didn_ _’_ _t realize it was that late. I napped since 7._

**Girlfriend:** _well, are you rested? I miss youuuu_

**boyfrieeeend:** _Ugh, me too. We didn_ _’_ _t have any shifts together this week. Sure, come over, but I might have a certain someone here too_ _…_

**Girlfriend:** _OMG is it THE boyyyy?_

**boyfrieeeend:** _Exactly him._

**Girlfriend:** _okay, I_ _’_ _ll be there asap, I_ _’_ _ll bring you boys b-fast_

**boyfrieeeend:** _Ugh, you_ _’_ _re a life savior <3_ 

 

Richie still hasn’t woken up by the time Luna texted Eddie that she was standing behind the door and they quietly hugged and sat down on the rug by the end of the bed, sipping on their drinks and whispering about their week. Eventually, Luna told him about her horrible experience with an elderly client and Eddie snorted loudly and clapped a hand on his mouth but too late. He sat down on his knees to look at the bed and sure enough, Richie was sitting up and rubbing at his eyes, his hair a complete and utter mess. _Oh, I like him, alright._

Eddie hopped over the wooden railing at the end of the bed(s) and reached over to the nightstand before putting the glasses back onto Richie’s face.

“Morning,” said Eddie warmly, his hands on Richie’s pretzeled legs. 

“Eds.” Richie’s voice was that warm dripping honey again, and Eddie almost fainted at how it made him feel.

Richie leaned closer and kissed the corner of Eddie’s mouth softly, and the other almost forgot that Luna was probably sitting behind them and watching the whole thing. Knowing Luna, she was definitely peeking.

Eddie blushed feverishly. “Um, we might have a guest. Hope you don’t mind.” Eddie pointed his chin towards Luna’s peeking brown head. 

“Moon!” exclaimed Richie and the other too laughed.

“It’s Luna, but I like that too,” said Luna standing up and handing Richie a grande cup of something hot.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to,” said Richie smiling and clasping the cup between both hands.

“Yes, I did. It’s hot chocolate – even I’m not cruel enough to force you to drink a refresher for breakfast. You seem like you have a sweet tooth,” she said winking at him and walking towards the window.

“You remind me so much of my friend Bev, she’d love you,” said Richie, taking a sip of hot chocolate with a grin on his face.

Eddie reached down to the floor to grab a bag that Luna brought. “Here, I think that’s for you.” He handed Richie a plain croissant and cream cheese.

“Oh yeeeessss.” Richie grabbed the food gratefully, and before Eddie withdrew his hand, he caught his wrist and kissed the inside of his palm. _Oh, he wants me dead._

Eddie blushed and took out a blueberry scone out of the bag but put a finger in front of Richie’s face before he got to say anything. “Do _not_ even think about it.”

“But, Eds! It’s a scone!” Richie’s smile could probably light the entire street.

Luna grinned at both of them and opened the curtains, plopping up on Mike’s side of the bed and taking out a sketchbook from her black Fjallraven backpack. She started sketching instantly looking at both boys who blushed at her actions and she merely shrugged her shoulders, knowing that Eddie was used to it and was only flustered because of his guest.

They stayed talking, eating and laughing for almost an hour, and Luna almost finished the drawing. They all made a promise to hang out together some day outside of school so that Richie can introduce them to Bev who to Eddie sounded a lot like Luna. He thought how ironic it was that they were such different people but their best friends were basically the same person.

As Luna got to packing her stuff back into the backpack and Eddie was collecting their empty wrappers and cups, Mike burst into the room, sweaty and carrying two duffel bags that were half-open.

“Oh, hey, Eddie. Sorry, didn’t know you had company,” said Mike smiling, his eyes lingering on Luna who still didn’t lift her eyes.

“Mike!” exclaimed Eddie and hung himself off the boy for a couple of seconds. “It’s alright, Luna is already leaving, and Richie and I will most likely head to the cinema.” 

“You mean movies?” asked Mike teasingly and ruffled Eddie’s hair playfully. 

Luna finally lifted her head from packing her stuff and looked at Mike, her eyes shining and mouth half-open. _Oh, L, don_ _’_ _t go there. He's great, but he doesn_ _’_ _t know what he wants._

“I’ll see you on Monday?” Luna asked Eddie, standing next to the two boys and not sparing Mike another look.

“Sure, you will. We might finally have some shifts together,” said Eddie rolling his eyes and hugging his friend. 

“Bye, Richie!” she waved at Richie who waved back with his phone, dropping it on the bed.

Eddie snorted and closed the door behind her, making his way back into the room and stood right by Richie who snaked his around the small boy’s hips. Eddie’s hand automatically went to the other’s hair, and it scared him a little how comfortable they already felt next to each other.

“Mikey, this is Richie. Richie, this is Mikey. He plays football, and he’s been my roommate for a while,” said Eddie, barely sparing Mike a look and looking into Richie’s shining brown eyes instead.

“Oh, I should’ve figured. He didn’t shut up about you since that day you told him to put his number on the cup,” said Mike casually, shuffling through his drawers for clean clothes.

“Mike!” exclaimed Eddie, hiding his face in his hands and Richie gave his hips an affectionate squeeze.

“Don’t worry, Eds. I didn’t shut up about you either, the only difference is my friends thought I made you up,” said Richie, trying to pry Eddie’s fingers from his face.

“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, man,” said Mike extending a hand to Richie that he shook firmly, both boys grinning. “Eddie, do you guys want to come to my game tomorrow? We’re gonna have Sugar Factory sponsoring and I know you’re a fan of that stuff.”

Eddie shamelessly squealed. “Can we go?” he was jumping up and down in Richie’s arms, looking at him pleadingly for an answer.

“Oh, Eds, I’d go anywhere with you,” answered Richie, grinning at Eddie dreamily, his heart almost bursting that Eddie included him in his weekend plans.

“Oh, and Eddie? Bring that girl, please,” said Mike before exiting the room with his bathroom necessities.

“Looks like someone’s into Luna,” said Richie turning towards Eddie and trapping him between his thighs. 

“It’s not that I’m surprised, but he’s not exactly a dating type. Doesn’t help that he’s entirely confused on whether he likes men or not,” said Eddie, rolling his eyes and playing with Richie’s curls.

“Let him figure it out, Eds. I don’t know him, but he might like both. Just warn Luna about it,” said Richie, smiling at Eddie reassuringly.

“How are you so smart and sweet?” asked Eddie, sitting down in Richie’s lap and kissing him sweetly on the nose.

Richie’s blush was a bright contrast to his yellow glasses. “How are you _real?_ ”

Eddie kissed him feverishly for several seconds, his tongue exploring all the areas of Richie’s mouth that it didn’t get to before. And this time, it was Eddie who got a moan out of Richie when he was basically laying on top of him, and Richie’s hands found their way under the waistband of Eddie’s sweatpants. Eddie rolled his hips with more intensity than he intended but he had absolutely zero control around Richie, and the tall boy had to break the kiss again, his pupils blown and fingers digging into Eddie’s skin almost painfully.

“How about that movie, Eds?” asked Richie, his voice low and breathing shallow.

“Can we sit in the back and make out?” asked Eddie, lifting his eyebrow cockily.

Richie licked his lips and looked all over Eddie’s body. “We’re not seeing _Black Panther_ then. I actually want to watch that one.”

“Deal,” grinned Eddie and nipped on Richie’s chin quickly before hopping off Richie to change.

The horror movie they saw later helped to shield the loud sounds of their kissing just fine but their ridiculously red mouths revealed everything the rest of the theater needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff vomit or naaaah


	7. Catch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward goes to a football game.
> 
> *NSFW*

Richie Tozier was not one to get flustered over simple matters. In fact, his overwhelming confidence usually terrified people and made it very difficult for him to know how to act in uncomfortable situations. Richie was also completely and entirely new to dating. A teenage-boy-crush-on-an-unattainable-track-team-champion new. Never-so-much-as-jerked-anyone-off new. And if their make-out sessions were any indication, Eddie didn’t seem inexperienced one bit. He was hyperventilating in front of Stan’s full-length mirror when Bev burst through the door, huffing, and puffing.

“Do you even know what Stan’s going to do to you if he finds out you’re stealing his clothes?” She jumped on the bed landing on her knees, looking Richie up and down.

“Oh, what-fucking-ever. He’ll live. I know he’s at work until midday anyway.”

“Why are _you_  up so early, that’s the question,” said Bev, looking through Stan’s bedside drawer.

“I couldn’t fucking sleep. Kept waking up every hour. It’s fucking exhausting,” said Richie throwing the tie on the floor and falling on the bed backward.

“What’s bothering you, the light of my life?”

“ _A boy_ , fire of my loins,” answered Richie grinning and turned around to peek into the drawer too. He pulled out a large box of _Durex_ and Bev snorted loudly.

“Someone’s prepping,” said Bev, pulling out a bottle of lube that was all the way in the back.

“Bill’s a lucky gal, what can I say.”

“Wait, you think Stan is a _top_?”

The thought took too much energy to process. “I honestly have absolutely no fucking clue.” Richie fell back on his back, overwhelmed with the contemplation over Stanley’s sex life. “Can we focus on the crisis at hand, please? I’m dying over here.”

“Ok, big boy. What is the concern?”

“This is gonna sound really weird, but I have no idea what to do with myself around Eddie.”

“Do with yourself as in, you don’t know what to talk about, or-“

“No, fuck, we definitely don’t have an issue with that. We talk for hours. It’s just…” Richie trailed off for a second, thinking over his next words, “I come off as this confident macho man, but I’m really fucking not. Like, I’ve never liked anyone like this before, and I’m nauseous all the time, and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

Bev sat back on her heels, her face laced with admiration and concern. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about your feelings so much. I think I like it.” She gave Richie a small smile, but the one he returned wasn’t as confident.

“I don’t know… I just don’t want to screw this up.”

“And whoever told you that getting into a relationship is an automatic screw-up? Just because nothing worked out before, doesn’t mean that this isn’t the person who’ll change it all.” Bev rubbed her stretched out palm on Richie’s back.

“Probably. Anyway, I wanted to impress him with my clothes or something. But nothing of Stanley’s looks good on me. Everything is a fit for a large chest and biceps and shit.” Richie was playing with the _Durex_ box absentmindedly.

Beverly snatched it up and threw it in the drawer. She gave Richie a pointed look and took his hands. “Hey. He likes you just the way you are, okay? You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Wear whatever the fuck you feel comfortable in, okay?”

Richie smiled warmly at her, thankful to have someone there with him as a pick-me-up. “I love you, Bevs.”

Beverly pinched his cheek and grinned. “Love you too, buckaroo. Now get going! Your little cup of sweet tea will be here really soon.”

Richie got up, ruffling Bev’s hair, and strolled back into his room, feeling the knee-shaking fear slowly ebb away. _He likes me. I have nothing to worry about. Who the fuck wears a button-up to a football game anyway?_ Richie opened the closet door with more enthusiasm than necessary, throwing an entire pile of t-shirts back on the bed without looking. He pulled out his phone and started blasting _Camila Cabello_ through AirPlay. The goggles on his night table were shaking from the excited bass of the music, matching the mood he was currently in. His anxiety was slowly replaced with pure elation at seeing Eddie soon. 

 

 **LOML:** _when r u coming?_

 **lil' favorite:** _I should be there in about two hours. Is that alright? I could come later if you'd like. P.S. Miss you._

 **LOML:** _I think I just fainted like seriously, and u can come anytime u want sweet scone, miss you more_

 **lil' favorite:**   _Got it. Coming at 9pm._

 **LOML:** _u mean 21:00?_

 **lil' favorite:** _FML._

 **LOML:** _anytime, bb_

 

_Breathe, Richie._

 

* * *

 

“ _Hawt diggety dayymn, good gaawlly, ahhr you a saayt foh sawhr aays_.”

“That was bloody monstrous, what on Earth is wrong with you?” asked Eddie grinning hard from his spot on the threshold of Richie’s apartment.

Richie opened the door further, his eyes not leaving the small boy. “’M sawry, peachy _thaang_.”

Eddie stepped in, and his smile faltered a little. “Are you already out of your tree?”

Richie slammed the door inadvertently, cringing at the loud sound. “’Tis not a _gaahrdn_ , sweet sir, ‘tis but a humble _abooode_.”

“For fuck’s sake,” said Eddie, putting a hand over his eyes in exasperation. The apartment smelled like vanilla extract and tobacco which should’ve been a disgusting combination. Except the whole sweet and bitter thing fit Richie’s description like a glove. Eddie’s chest felt large and warm.

“ _Whaaaas_ wrong, baby _boooy_?” asked Richie with a slurred voice, his eyes googly behind the obnoxious yellow glasses.

Eddie blushed instantly, the smile gone from his face. “We’re not going to the game like this.”

Eddie unclasped his white jean fanny pack and threw it on the kitchen counter before he opened one of the top drawers to fish out a glass. He filled it from the sink and reached it out to Richie. The other was barely holding onto the counter, swaying on feet covered in _The Simpson_ _’_ _s_ socks, wearing nothing but boxer shorts with little cakes on them. _Shit. He_ _’_ _s wearing nothing but boxer shorts._

Eddie was trying his hardest to keep the eyes on the level with Richie’s. Except he was a full head shorter and was left with staring at the patch of black hair in the middle of the other’s chest. All he wanted was for Richie to _sober the fuck up_ so he could search for other patches of dark hair on his body.

He cleared his throat, pushing the cold glass into Richie’s stomach. “Drink this.”

The other jumped backward with odd delayed reaction, goosebumps covering his chest. Eddie saw his nipples harden ( _my face is only bloody staring straight at them)_ and visibly swallowed, trying to regain composure. It didn’t help that Richie’s grin was kind of crooked and sheepish, and Eddie felt giddy and _happy._ Even if the lanky idiot was totally ruining their date.

“I can’t believe that we made out for the first time just yesterday morning and I’m already taking care of your messy idiot self.” Eddie was trying very hard to look frustrated, but he came off amused instead.

Richie’s large bony hands wrapped around Eddie’s on the cup and he squeezed softly, his eyes glistening with some mischief the other couldn’t pinpoint. “You _worried_ about _meeee_?”

Eddie wanted to roll his eyes or scold the other for drinking before they got to the actual game but he couldn’t help but feel happy by just being there with Richie. And in _his_ apartment. It was more exciting than the football game, and he found that caring about them missing it was taking too much energy.

“You’re honestly a walking nightmare. But I want you to be responsive when I’m speaking to you, so can you please drink the water?” Eddie gave him the key puppy eyes look.

Richie seemed like he was about to argue but then he swayed on the same spot and decided to take the glass after all. He tipped it back dramatically, chugging the whole thing. Both corners of his mouth were now little streams of tap water, and they dropped unevenly on his chest and down to their feet. Richie swayed a little more and leaned his hip against the counter. Eddie held him by one elbow and kept the other on his own hip, trying to keep his hands from touching the newly wet patches on the other’s chest and abdomen.

Richie finished with the glass and put it on the counter with more force than he probably intended. It didn’t shatter, but both closed their eyes for a second, waiting for shards of glass to make their way around the kitchen. When nothing happened, Eddie giggled, and Richie put a hand over his mouth, snorting obnoxiously. It’s then that Eddie noticed someone standing under the wooden arch leading into the small kitchen.

“I must say that my ace heart is kind of exploding right now. I could probably write a novel about you two.”

Eddie recognized the girl as someone he saw with Richie that time at Starbucks. He instantly knew it was Bev even though they _still_ haven’t discussed the other’s stalker tendencies. _Which may or may not be growing on me._

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you in normal circumstances,” said Eddie, reaching out a hand for Bev to shake.

Bev giggled and swatted the hand away, giving Eddie a half-hug and kissing the side of his head. “You smell like a Christmas candle. How is that fucking possible?” She tilted her face towards Eddie’s head and shamelessly took a whiff.

Eddie was looking up at Richie who was smiling warmly, and he felt a wave of affection wash over him like a tidal wave – recurring and soothing. He felt so comfortable in their company even though they were probably the two weirdest people he’s ever met.

“He smells like _heeeeaven_ , Bev. I can’t take it,” said Richie, putting his face in his hands and shaking the head, unruly black hair swishing left and right. Eddie wanted to explode from how adorable he looked.

“What did you drink?” asked Eddie, snaking an arm around Bev’s waist confidently. Something about her made him feel like being with Luna, and they had the same warm energy around them that attracts people like magnets.

“Oh, sweets, I didn’t drink anything. I don’t actually like drinking, but this one over here was so nervous about seeing you that he downed the whole bottle of red sangria I had stashed in one of the bottom drawers. As you can see, he’s a proud lightweight,” said Bev, waving her arm up and down, gesturing at Richie’s body.

“Hey!” Richie probably wanted to argue, but intoxication won over, a smile took over his features, and he tugged on the scarf hanging off Beverly’s neck.

She slapped his hand away and laughed, reaching out to pick up the glass and make her way to the sink. She placed it inside and left the room without another word, winking at Eddie as she rounded the corner.

“I like her,” said Eddie pinching right above Richie’s navel.

The other giggled and grabbed Eddie’s hand, kissing it softly. He sighed into their adjoined palms, and Eddie felt a pang in his heart blossom.

“I like _you,_ ” said Richie and looked Eddie dead in the eye pointedly. His eyes were temporarily unwavering, waiting for something.

Eddie shifted his weight on the tips of his toes and gave the other a small kiss. Richie returned it quickly, smiling into their joined lips.

“C’mon, Casanova. We need to get you all sobered up.”

Eddie took his hand and led them down the hall, assuming that’s where the bathroom would be. The door was open, and a fresh scent of pine was radiating from it. It was surprisingly clean and neat, but Eddie was guessing Richie wasn’t the one doing the chores. They stepped inside, and the tall man furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Don’t look at me like that, you need to take a bath or a shower. Preferably cold,” said Eddie pointing towards the grey laced shower curtain that could only be Stan’s idea.

“You gonna undress me, _thhhhpagetti_?” slurred Richie, stumbling forward and leaning both of them on the sink.

Eddie snorted and pushed him on the chest. It was very warm and surprisingly soft.

“You'd like that, wouldn't you?” Eddie was smiling ear to ear and rounded Richie to turn on the faucet, making sure not to put it to a hot setting.

When he swerved around, Richie was looking into the mirror, making faces, his glasses in the sink, leaning both hands on the edge of the counter. Eddie’s eyes shamelessly trailed over the other’s back, and he noticed two new tattoos that he couldn’t see before: one on the lower back and the other on the right calf but the legs were crossed, and it was inaccessible. Not that it would be a good idea to ask Richie to stand straight right now. _No chance._

He came up closer and caressed the lower back tattoo with the tips of his fingers. It was a popular Spongebob meme where he was crouching with elbows sticking out the back, and lettering around it said ‘tAToOs HaVe to bE mEaNinGfuL’. Richie giggled when the fingers touched his skin and turned around to see what Eddie was doing. Eddie grinned straight at him and pinched his side affectionately.

“Of course you’d get something like that. I’m literally not even surprised.” Eddie’s hand lingered on Richie’s back, putting steady and warm pressure there.

“I’m nothing if not a walking proof that idiots exist.” Richie turned around and took Eddie’s face into his hands. They were a little cold from the sink, but the blush on Eddie’s cheeks quickly rectified that.

“That you are,” said Eddie feeling a humming pressure in the back of his skull that screamed _hooking up with inebriated cute men is not a great idea._ He didn’t want to be a douche, so he kissed the inside of Richie’s palm and started backing out of the room. “You better be swift, the game starts in three hours, and I want to get there early.”

Eddie closed the door softly, an image of Richie’s honest smile lingering in his head for a while. He knew that he should probably be concerned with the speed at which his feelings were evolving, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much. _I’m young and careless, and I’m allowed to make mistakes. But I don’t think he’s a mistake._

He went more down the hall, peeking into Beverly’s room. She was sitting on the floor with thin brown glasses on, a needle stuck between her teeth. There were pieces of fabric all around her, cut in fuchsia and bright red. She winked at Eddie when she saw him come in. _Billie Ellish_ was quietly playing from the MacBook speakers. 

“You make your own clothes?” asked Eddie, trying to figure out Beverly’s outfit under the pile of half-made shirts in her lap.

She took the needle out of her mouth and started sewing the red and fuchsia together. “Yeah but these are for a school project.”

Eddie sat down cross-legged in front of her, watching the swift movement of the needle going in and out of the material. “You study design?”

Bev put the needle back between her teeth and nodded enthusiastically, reaching the crop top to the side, sunlight pouring through it. She nodded her head towards it as if asking Eddie’s opinion. It wasn’t something he would wear, but he knew it would look good with Luna’s complexion. He gave her two excited thumbs up, and she put the cloth back in her lap.

“What are you studying?” Her attention was all on Eddie which again reminded him of Luna who always seemed invested in anything he said. Beverly’s hair was in messy space buns, and the loose strands were practically golden in the pouring sunlight. Eddie guessed she had the brightest room in the apartment.

“Marketing. I minor in English though. I love reading.” He smiled earnestly, feeling more and more comfortable in Bev’s company by the minute.

“Gonna be a tiny boss man?” asked Bev with no indication of mocking in her voice.

Eddie giggled. “No. Just want to open a start-up here or on the West Coast. I haven’t chosen yet.”

Bev looked at him with an amused smile for some time and then continued her work. Mere minutes passed before they heard a loud banging on the door, and Bev instantly rolled her eyes.

“He can be so fucking obnoxious sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” asked Eddie and they both laughed loud.

Richie appeared in the doorway, a hand holding the towel to only cover his crotch. Beverly gave him a flat look and Eddie blushed beet red, hiding his face in the palms. He kept them closed hoping that Richie will just make it back to his room, but he came up right next to him instead, a sharp smell of pine identifying his proximity. Eddie peaked through his fingers to see what he was doing, but the idiot was just standing right above him, grinning hard and swaying from side to side with the towel (thankfully) still intact. Eddie squealed and scrambled out of the room, only getting up when he was out of the doorway. He could hear the loud laughing of Bev and Richie coming from the door. _He’s going to be the death of me._

 

* * *

 

“It’s quite simple, dad.”

“Edward, nothing is simple to an old man.”

“You have to create an account first. You can’t just send an e-mail once.”

“But when am I ever going to send you one again? I just want to e-mail you some of the photos I took. I don’t have anyone else to share it with.”

Eddie smiled warmly into the phone, his chest tightening a little from missing his father. Frank was a traveling photographer ever since his parents divorced. He still remembered the day his mother started alienating his dad, giving him the cold shoulder for reasons no one could comprehend. Frank had a very bad case of asthma, and eventually, Sonia decided that having a sick husband was beyond her. Eddie was forced to live with her until he left for the U.S., but he never blamed his dad for pursuing his dreams.

“Alright, Pop. Let me guide you through it."

They were already in their seats almost on top of the stadium, and he had laid out all of their jackets to occupy enough seating for eight people. Luna promised to make an appearance if she could escape work on time. He wasn’t sure it was possible, but he was hoping nonetheless. Eddie told his dad the simple steps of creating a Gmail account and repeated his own email three times to make sure Frank spelled it right. He hung up as he saw Richie taking two steps at a time with an overflowing tray in his hands.

“You could’ve spilled everything, you idiot,” said Eddie smiling wide and making grabby hands at the large plastic cup of vodka sour apple.

“Don’t complain, Eds, I brought all of your favorites.” Richie sat down in the isle, pushing Eddie with his hip to move further down the aisle. He kissed him sweetly on the cheek and handed the plastic cup.

Eddie instantly took a sip, the sweet, bright green liquid spreading warmth through his chest. He sighed contentedly and peaked into the tray to see what else was there.

It was loaded with a ridiculous amount of candy: _Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Twizzlers, Jolly Rancher_ , and _M &M’s_. Richie’s drink was bright red, and gummy worms were floating all around. Eddie noticed that there was no substantial food on there and he felt a ridiculous sort of elation. _We’re like two peas in a pod._

Richie was sipping on his drink and looking all over Eddie’s face. The small boy suddenly remembered the other’s birthday suit fiasco and felt a blush cover half of his body. Richie sobered up surprisingly quickly, but Eddie was seriously concerned for his own inability to hold composure. They were stuck in an intense staring contest, and Eddie didn’t even hear when the marching band came out on the field.

Richie finally leaned over a bit and kissed Eddie softly, tugging on his lower lip a bit. He was about to go back to drinking, but Eddie grabbed his elbow and tugged the other towards him. He instantly opened his mouth, starved of tasting Richie, and he almost squealed at the insanely sweet taste of _Richie_ mixed with candy. It was overwhelming, and Eddie’s lower abdomen felt heavy, while his head was getting lighter by the second. Their tongues touched, and Eddie’s hand went to the other’s neck, pushing their faces closer together. Richie’s glasses were digging into Eddie’s nose painfully, but he didn’t care. Couldn’t even concentrate. He was about to knock the tray right out of Richie’s knees when he felt a nudge on his shoulder. Luna and Ben were standing in the aisle, she was smiling smugly, and the latter’s face matched the color of the sausage in his hot dog.Luna was holding _Caesar’s_ pizza box and the biggest plastic cup of _Pepsi_ you could probably find there.

“You guys should probably go to the restroom or something. I doubt you’d want anyone telecasting your sex through all school networks,” said Luna, squeezing through the two of them to sit next to Eddie.

Ben, still bright red, smiled shyly and followed her lead, sitting down next.

Eddie and Richie’s faces were stunned, but they recovered quickly, snorting in their drinks. Eddie kissed Luna’s and Ben’s cheeks, making the latter blush furiously again. He plopped back onto his seat and sipped half of the cup at once, snatching the _Sour Patch Kids_ from under Richie’s seat. When he leaned down to take them, he made sure to bite the other’s knee gently, pleased that the skin was exposed in lieu of jean shorts. He noticed that Richie’s face was flushed, pupils blown, and Eddie felt arousal rush through him head to toe.

He tried to keep calm for a while, his leg jumping sporadically, baby pink _Vans_ creating thudding sounds that the especially irritated blond in front of him kept turning around for. Richie eventually leaned down and whispered something offensive to her because she grabbed her boyfriend’s arm and moved a couple of rows down. _Yeah, because that doesn’t make him more attractive._

Finally, the rest of the group showed up. Bev, Stan, and Bill all got there with some food too. Bev was munching on churros, Stan was sipping on some coffee, and Bill was shamelessly stuffing his face with popcorn. They squeezed through the row, and Eddie noticed that Luna shook Bev’s hand when she passed her. Everyone introduced themselves to Ben, and most of the group ended up occupying the now-empty sears a row lower of them, so they can talk.

Richie and Eddie’s bare knees kept bumping, shooting buzzing energy through both of them and by the time their cocktails were finished, Eddie was barely staying still.

He was never an overly horny person, but something about the raw energy coming off the field, the heavy feeling in his head, and the proximity at which they were sitting was driving him _insane_. It didn’t help that Richie was stealing glances once in a while, kissing Eddie on the corner of his mouth, or his shoulder, squeezing the inside of his knee. Eddie was struggling to breathe at this point, and his sleeveless shirt felt too tight.

As soon as the half-time started, Eddie bolted out of his seat and hopped over Richie’s obnoxiously long legs to run downstairs. He didn’t pause to explain why he was making a sweet escape but his body was betraying him and waiting any longer would’ve resulted in an unsatisfactory accident. He swerved between the dozens of people running down the stairs to get more food and made a beeline for the toilet. Eddie closed the stall behind him and leaned his face against the cool metal door. He stayed there for a couple of minutes, taking deep breaths and finding it infinitely difficult to stop thinking about Richie’s hot breath on his neck. He must’ve stayed there longer than needed because he was now sitting on the toilet and staring at the black marks on the sides of his Vans, and the rest of the washroom seemed empty. Eddie was hearing whistling and drums pick up as the band was announcing the second half of the game. He forgot his phone upstairs, and he _really_ didn’t want to get back there until he sobered up a little. His head still felt foggy, and he giggled anytime he heard someone pee in the urinal, which wasn’t a good sign at all.

Eddie heard the door open, and he froze, slapping a hand onto his mouth and stifling laughter. Someone was walking towards the stalls, and he was hoping that they weren’t going to choose one next to his. _I hate when they chose one right next to you. Does it look like I want to hear AND smell you purge?_ He saw a shadow appear at the bottom of his door and somehow something this utterly creepy seemed like the most hilarious thing in the world. Suddenly, someone’s fingers looped around the top of the door, and they jumped up to peek inside. As soon as Eddie saw a levitating mop of black curls, he knew who it was.

“Stop peeking into my stall, you creep!” squealed Eddie, trying his hardest not to laugh.

“Spaghetti, you disappeared on me. I thought you left the stadium, but all of your stuff is up there,” said Richie, using his knuckles to drum out some nonsensical melody.

“Am I not entitled to a minute of silence?”

Richie jumped up higher this time, his head appearing above the door. He looked so ridiculous that Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re literally sitting there in clothes! What’s up with that?”

“You shouldn’t see whether I’m clothed or not at all, you blockhead!”

Richie stuck his yellow converse into the stall, his hairy leg almost reaching the toilet. Eddie giggled and put his legs up, crossing them in a yoga pose. “But I _waaaaant_ to,” whined Richie, trying to catch Eddie’s foot.

“Want what?” asked Eddie, finally stomping on the other's foot quickly before bringing it up again.

“Want- _AH! OW!_ -to see whether you’re clothed or not.”

There were a couple of seconds of heavy silence and Eddie couldn’t take it anymore - he stood up quickly and opened the door, grabbing onto Richie’s _Adventure Time_ t-shirt and tugged him inside. He slammed his back on the side where the toilet paper hung and instantly attacked Richie with his mouth, forgetting about locking the door altogether. Eddie wanted to be responsible and romantic, _yada yada yada_ , but he waited too long to kiss Richie like that and even longer to have a boyfriend, to begin with.

He was losing no time, his hands gripping onto Richie’s arms and tongue touching the top of the other’s mouth.

Richie’s hands were on his waist, putting a comfortable amount of pressure there and simultaneously pushing them closer together. Eddie knew that someone is bound to get into the bathroom at some point, so he was moving faster than he would’ve wanted. But he was drunk, happy, and sugar high, so nothing was going to stop him at that point. Richie tasted like _Skittles_ with vodka, and it was making something deep inside him jump happily. His shorts were straining and so were Richie’s if their pushing and shoving were any indication.

Eddie heard the creak of the entrance door, and he instantly jumped back, his head whipping in all directions from not knowing what to do. He knew that the man would be able to see two pairs of feet. Eddie turned and lock and jumped on the toilet, barely even crouching because even standing on the rim, his head didn’t go above the door much. _The stalls are taller than usual, alright?!_

Richie stood facing him, and he had a mischievous look in his eyes, the smile hiding nothing. Richie’s hands went under Eddie’s shirt, cold fingers trailing on the lower abdomen.

Eddie giggled and smacked Richie on top of the head, forgetting that the noise would be loud enough for the other man to hear. He instantly crouched down lower putting a hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter. Richie was leaning on the wall behind Eddie, a fist in his mouth from the uncontrollable wheezing.

“Hey man, you okay?”

Richie took a couple of deep breaths and answered with a very obvious laughing voice. “Y-yeah just hit my head on something.” He instantly shoved his face into the crook of his arm, giggling noisily.

Another two minutes passed before the man washed his hands (to Eddie’s immense pleasure) and exited the room. Both breathed out in relief and laughed even more at the ridiculousness of the situation. Richie put both of his hands on Eddie’s hips, pressing slowly but confidently, his hands darker than before. Eddie was convinced that the interruption was going to ruin the moment, but apparently, it was a non-issue. Because Eddie was now a tad bit taller than Richie and he was having the time of his life. He snaked his hands around the other’s neck, tugging the hair in the back to gain more access for the kiss. They continued where they left off, now fully tongue and teeth, flush pressed against each other.

Richie’s hands on Eddie’s hips were practically burning through the fabric of his jean shorts, the consistent pressure of the thumbs making the small boy delirious. Richie finally got his hands back under the other’s shirt, massaging all over the back and the sides, making Eddie’s knees weak. It was getting heated very fast, and Eddie didn’t know how long they’d be able to keep going without taking it further. _Maybe we should go further._

Eddie took hold of one of Richie’s hands and guided it right to the waistband of his shorts, involuntarily pushing a couple of fingers in. Eddie gasped at the proximity and broke the kiss, leaning against Richie’s forehead to steady himself. “If you want to stop, now would be the time,” said Eddie, breathing hard straight onto the other’s lips.

“I don’t want to stop,” said Richie, his eyes a blown dark brown.

“Good.” Eddie found his lips again, and Richie got his green light to continue the work on Eddie’s shorts. He quickly hoisted him up and put him on the ground, trapping him against the door. He struggled with unbuttoning the bottoms and Eddie swatted his hand away, undoing both the button and the zipper. He instantly reached for Richie’s shorts, doing the same but with more confidence than his own. The washroom was all loud breathing and heavy air.

Eddie didn’t want to waste any more time, knowing that their friends will start looking for them eventually and put his hand straight into Richie’s boxer shorts, delighted that today’s escapades granted him an opportunity to know what kind of underwear Richie wears. His hand instantly gripped hard, and Richie moaned out into his mouth, not even trying to stay more quiet. Richie recovered for a second to put his hand into Eddie’s boxers and he grinned which Eddie could only assume could be from also discovering his underwear. For a little over a minute, there was nothing but panting, and wet pumping. The sounds surrounding the room were _filthy,_ and Eddie was hoping with everything in him for nobody else to come in.

His brain and body were in pure ecstasy, Richie’s large hand felt fantastic wrapped around him, and he loved that he was taller. Because closer to the end, Eddie tucked his head in the middle of the other’s chest, biting into it and occasionally nipping at his chin, while Richie was nudging him with his head, biting the other’s ear possibly harder than necessary. Eddie was first to finish, trying desperately to muffle his moans into Richie’s sleeveless shirt. Richie followed mere seconds after, panting into the top of Eddie’s head, shamelessly moaning out the other’s name. They stayed in their bliss for a couple of seconds until Eddie finally brought his face up, resting his chin on Richie’s chest. He giggled when he saw how fogged up the other’s thick yellow glasses were, and some parts of his face started hurting as if in remembrance of how the frames were digging into his cheeks, nose, and forehead. But he didn’t care.

“That was a single most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me,” said Eddie, kissing Richie softly, still on a high from what just happened.

Richie smiled sheepishly and squeezed the other’s hip. “Same for me, Spaghetti. I think I was transported into another dimension. Fucking planet Ego.”

Eddie snorted. “You’re such a fucking doofus.” He stepped away quickly, already starting to feel yucky from the sticky feeling on his hands and in his pants. He ripped off some toilet paper and handed some to Richie, cleaning off quickly and blushing three shades of deepest red from what just happened between them. When they got back upstairs in the very last quarter of the game with two more cocktails in hand, every single one of their friends winked knowingly at them.

 

* * *

  

Eddie sprinted towards Mike at full speed, and the other dropped the duffel bag on the ground, catching the small boy in the middle of the torso. They won which Eddie was convinced was due to Michael’s singular master skills. That could only mean a huge celebration in one of the frat houses. Eddie kissed Mike’s cheek, internally thankful that he caught him straight out of the shower. He finally hopped off when the rest of the group shifted closer in their direction. The building next to the stadium was all but empty at that point.

“You were awesome there, man,” said Richie slapping Mike’s arm in the most typical handshake Eddie has ever seen, and he gave Richie a flat look. _Because you were watching the game, of course._ He couldn’t care less about football either and only went to support Mike.

“Thanks, man. Hey, you seem like you brought half the campus with you,” said Mike, ruffling Eddie’s hair and nodded towards the five people chatting in front of them.

Luna and Bev were in a rather animated conversation, and it seems like the former was showing the redhead her sketches. Stan, Bill and Ben were laughing at some video Stan was showing them, all of their faces in a collected blush from all the beers they had. Eddie noticed that Mike’s eyes got stuck in the direction of the three of them, falling on Ben. He was laughing so hard that he had to double over and Mike’s mouth twitched into a strained smile as if he was trying not to react. Eddie felt a warm feeling spread over him. It seems like Richie noticed it too because he gave Eddie a thumbs up behind Mike’s back. They both smiled knowingly and made their way to the group. Eddie took turns introducing Mike to everyone. They all collectively agreed to go to a Beta Kappa Rho party starting at midnight. It was the first time away from home that Eddie didn't feel homesick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richie's tattoo: https://i.redd.it/8oaa3f020y6z.png
> 
> I hope you're all okay that I didn't write graphic smut - this isn't what the fic is about, and I really don't want to make the rating Explicit (I think I have plenty of those already)  
> I kinda had different plans for this one, but I guess I was in the mood lol
> 
> P.S. I honestly hate this chapter, so I hope you don't block me 
> 
> tumblr: creamy-brown-eyes


	8. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward gets surprising news about his father and Richard has pubescent flashbacks.

Eddie was freaking out with no hope of calming down. Winter holiday was starting in three days, and he didn’t plan the rest of his time in New York City well. He still had places written down in his pre-Christmas bucket list that needed to be accomplished, and he wanted to make sure he spent as much time as possible with Richie.

Saying goodbye to his boyfriend was the most difficult part of it all. They just started getting comfortable with each other, and now Eddie has to head home for three weeks. It was plain torture. Richie assured them that they will be just fine and there is nothing to worry about, but Eddie wasn’t convinced. He was a man of meticulous planning and organizing, and getting into a serious relationship was  _not_ part of his plan until after graduation. But everything about Richie was different, and he couldn’t wait to spend the summer together.

But that was still very much down the line, and Christmas was  _not._ And spending it with his mouther was daunting and sent Eddie into small fits of anxiety any time he thought about it. As he now sat behind his desk, organizing the folders on the desktop of his MacBook, he decided to FaceTime his dad. The familiar ringing sound pushed through the speakers, and Eddie’s expectant expression took over the touchscreen. It took over ten seconds for Frank to pick up. He still wasn’t comfortable with iPhone’s.

_“Edward?”_

“Yeah, dad, it’s me. My name and face should be on the screen.” Eddie rolled his eyes affectionately and smiled wide at his father.

_“My boy! I have missed you.”_

“Dad, where are you?” There was a beautiful field over Frank’s shoulder, and Eddie wondered how he got reception in the middle of nowhere. His dad also looked slightly embarrassed which was very unusual.

_“I’m not sure you are quite ready to hear this yet.”_

“Alright, I know we don’t live together anymore or anything, but you can still tell me whatever is going on.” Eddie tried to put as much reassurance as possible in his words. He hated Frank keeping secrets from him, especially since they were always so close.

_“Well. Um…I moved in with someone?”_

“I’m sorry, what?”  _Moved in?_

_“Perhaps another thing I should say is I’ve been seeing someone for about a year now, and we have decided that it was the time to take the next step.”_

“Dad, don’t you think you should’ve  _started_ the conversation with ‘I have moved in with someone’?”

_“I didn’t want to upset you.”_ Frank looked sincerely sorry and disappointed with himself, which made Eddie feel horrible.

“Hey, you would never upset me with great news. You  _really_ really deserve to be happy. I’m just…surprised is all.” Eddie smiled and saw that his dad’s pixelated image resembled one as well.

_“I’m glad. I was going to invite you over for Christmas to meet Paul but-“_

_Meet Paul? PAUL?!_ “-I’ll come!”

_“Really? But Sonia-“_

“Can spend Christmas with her new husband and will be better off. I can’t wait, dad. I bought tickets for the twenty-first.”

_“Alright, sounds great. Paul lives on a farm, so it’s a far drive, I hope you don’t mind.”_

“It’s perfect, dad. Can’t wait to meet him. Love you!”

_“Love you too, Eddie!”_ Frank sent him an air kiss and Eddie hung up.

He couldn’t yet process what just happened - his dad possibly being bi and him spending Christmas in a good, healthy place. Now he finally couldn’t wait for the holidays, but he needed to get ready for work. Eddie forwarded an email with his flight details to dad’s new email and rushed to put on his pristine white tennis shoes before running out the door.

* * *

 

Richie had been studying at the cafe most of the day. He only had one final exam left, and it seemed like he was the last person with an exam in the entire university. His professor has been out sick most of December, and it prompted a huge delay on the entirety of the class. Everyone tried to convince Mr. Lorens to simply exclude the last chapter from the exam, but the overachiever was obviously against that. Which brought Richie to his boyfriend’s place of work, with no actual time to communicate with him.

He first sat down on the side where he can see the bar and the backdoor clearly but watching Eddie running around to pull things from the freezer, shake the refreshers, and smile sweetly at strangers has been very distracting, and Richie couldn’t focus on the work  _at all._ So he eventually moved to the small leather chair in the corner of the cafe where he could still see his boyfriend a little bit, but not so much that it would distract him from studying. And now it’s been about an hour of inner whining about not being able to see Eddie’s cute face behind the large coffee machine. So, there was no real progress after all.

Eddie was getting off work any minute now, but Richie was still restless. He started randomly crinkling pages in his textbook when his boyfriend sat down on the arm of the chair, throwing an arm over Richie’s shoulders.

“Are you ready to go?” asked Eddie, kissing his boyfriend’s cheek.

Richie looked up slightly startled but slowly melted under Eddie’s eyes.  _I will never get used to those browns looking down on me._ “Yeah. I didn’t get anything done though.” Richie chased Eddie’s lips and managed to steal a kiss from his half-grinning boyfriend.

“Makes me wonder what could  _possibly_  distract you here.” Small boy’s left eyebrow flew up, and Richie got that tingly feeling in his fingertips anytime Eddie flirted with him. Or spoke, really.

“Oh, you mean besides you in small khaki shorts? No distractions at all, you’re right.” Eddie leaned down and kissed the top of Richie’s cheekbone very gently, and giggled straight into his ear when his boyfriend shuddered.

“Are you alright?”

“Stop being cheeky, Kaspbrak. You know what that does to me,” said Richie, tugging Eddie roughly to pull the boy into his lap. Eddie rolled his eyes but wiggled a little to get comfortable, tucking the knees between the arm of the chair and his boyfriend’s side.

“You’re cheeky too. Sitting here all relaxed, giving me compliments. I’m affected too.”

“Are you now?”

Richie started leaning in to give Eddie a proper kiss before he got interrupted by someone’s loud coughing.

“You guys are  _fantastingly_  cute but I think we all know that if you start making out here, it’s going to quickly escalate into something you’ll get arrested for, so I suggest you take this party elsewhere,” said Luna with a playful smirk, grabbed Richie’s finished drink and went behind bar again.

“Is  _fantasingly_ even a word?”

Richie laughed and squeezed himself from below Eddie and out to a standing position. His boyfriend just slumped back into the seat, folded apron, and hat in hand.

“Oh, come on, Eds. Don’t fall asleep here. You have all your stuff?”

Eddie lazily pointed at the backpack that sat below the small coffee table. The small boy had a bit of an obsession with bags, so this was one of the new ones that Richie hadn’t seen yet, red and white polka dots with a cherry keychain. The image was complete with Eddie’s red nail polish. The boy never left the dorms uncoordinated.

“You…look cute today,” said Richie quietly, while collecting his studying materials.

The small boy had an arm over his eyes, and he lifted it slightly to warmly smile at Richie. “You look cuter.”

“Okay, Eds, that’s an absolute lie, and you know it.” Richie made a gesture up and down his skinny body, accentuating the ripped light blue jeans, orange flip-flops, and a baby pink button-down with purposely ripped sleeves that was open halfway. He usually didn’t  _try_ to look like a mess, but running out the door in whatever didn’t smell like Cheetos had been Tozier’s go-to since birth. And it was exam week which meant he cared even less. No surprise that his date clothes never received more consideration. Not that this was a  _date._ Eddie was just staying over his apartment for the first time.  _No biggie. No big gigantic, enormous fucking deal._

“Are you still here?” asked Eddie clicking his fingers in front of Richie’s face.

“Um…Yeah, babycakes. Let’s go.” Richie quickly shook his head out of the self-deprecating thoughts and gently slapped Eddie on the ass before strolling out of the cafe without a second glance. He realized with rather delayed ignorance that he had  _never_ slapped his boyfriend’s ass before (specifically because the handjob situation hadn’t moved to anything more substantial), and has  _never_ called him babycakes. And knowing Eddie, he was  _not_ letting either of those slide.

“Did you just..? Was that..?” If Richie wasn’t so utterly terrified of the whole reaction he would definitely film Eddie at that moment, eyes wide open, non-blinking, mouth opening and closing like an obnoxious fish.  _But, like, a very cute fish._  He could practically  _hear_ his boyfriend’s mind racing with questions and the fight behind those chocolate-browns on whether to punch Richie or slap Richie or just turn around and walk away. But the tall boy must’ve completely misread the situation because Eddie suddenly started moving towards him, and confidently placed his palm right in the middle of Richie’s stomach, making his heart rate pick up with record speed.

“You can’t slap my ass without intention, Tozier. Do you understand that?” Richie has  _never_ heard Eddie’s voice get that deep. His voice wasn’t squeaky or high by any means, but this was different.  _Intentional._ Meant to stir, and completely disarm. Which was  _definitely_ happening.  _Complete surrender_. A half-whine escaped Richie’s mouth, past his parted lips which initiated a satisfied smirk on his boyfriend’s face.

* * *

They made it back to Richie’s place pretty quickly, considering the sudden flow of people on the subway. They could technically walk, but Eddie was exhausted from his shift and wanted to spend more time sitting and listening to music rather than walking thirty blocks. So they sat on the train, fingers laced and Richie’s thoughts bouncing erratically in his over-imaginative brain, only amplified with the suggestive music his boyfriend chose for them. Like he wasn’t  _already_ a nervous mess.

They walked into the empty apartment, and somehow Richie wasn’t expecting that  _at all._ Bev and Stan were always home late at night - they had busy schedules and were usually too exhausted to go out anywhere. And it was the middle of the week which was even more surprising. Richie wasn’t ready to be alone with Eddie. In his apartment. With all the space and time for themselves.

Come to think of it, they haven’t been alone since the time Richie took a nap at Eddie’s dorm. Since their first kiss.  _Unless you count the particularly romantic public bathroom situation._ They were always surrounded by their friends, and Richie wasn’t one to complain because he was an anxious mess around Eddie  _any_ day of the week, but especially so when they were alone. Which never happened because Richie didn’t live on campus, and both worked at least four out of seven days. And, on top of that, neither of them had their own space, and anytime they had anything remotely similar to a sleepover at either Bill’s or Eddie’s, they could never really do anything besides some soft kissing.

And it’s not like Richie was a horndog. What he felt towards Eddie was so much more than that, and it had nothing to do with how  _goddamn attractive_ he was. He just thought it was natural with how long they’ve been seeing each other to see… _more_ of each other. But he would never push for it. And the empty apartment was definitely suggesting otherwise.

“I didn’t…um…I didn’t ask them to leave,” said Richie, dropping his backpack by the entrance, trying to avoid looking at Eddie.

“Why would that bother me?” Richie looked up and saw his rather confused boyfriend. It seemed like Eddie didn’t get the ridiculous coincidence of the situation and he decided to speedily rectify the circumstances.

“Uh, never mind. Are you hungry?” Richie started walking towards the kitchen, and Eddie trailed behind, dropping his things by the entrance as well.

“ _Always_ ,” said Eddie groaning midway, obviously exhausted and spent from a long shift.

Richie pulled out some leftovers of Stan’s wonderful creation of chicken tikka masala from last night. “Why did they make you work two extra hours again?”

Eddie plopped himself on one of the high-top chairs, his chin instantly falling in the crevice his palms created. “Luna wasn’t even supposed to work today. This girl got a job barely a week ago, and she’s already calling out ten minuted into her shift. Even  _I_ don’t do that, and I’ve worked there for months now.”

Richie looked fondly at his boyfriend from where he was placing the glass container into the microwave. “Don’t fret, Spaghetti. I’m sure Audra will fire her.”

“Most likely. I’m just tired of picking up after other people who don’t want the job. It’s like…why would you even apply in the first place?” Eddie’s usual animated hand gestures were absent, and Richie came up to his boyfriend’s side to plant a gentle kiss to his temple. That pleasant pastry and coffee scent radiated off Eddie, and Richie’s insides flipped from the familiarity. “Eds, your efforts won’t go unnoticed. Mark my words, you’ll get a raise or a promotion by the end of the year.”

Eddie gave his boyfriend a tired smile and quickly grabbed Richie’s hand before he went back to the microwave, planting a sweet kiss to the protruding knuckles. “I  _better_ get a raise. Don’t know about the promotion though. You’re sweet.”

Richie leaned in, unable to resist Eddie’s cute exhausted expression. Whenever the small boy got tired, he was pliant and less of a ball of nerves. Richie loved how much of a firecracker his boyfriend was, but he enjoyed the moments when Eddie was soft and less argumentative. Their lips touched, and Richie started moving slowly, without any  _suggestive_  intention, simply missing the moments when they could just  _kiss._ But it seemed like Eddie had another idea when Richie felt soft fingers pulling his chin down, and their kiss quickly deepened, making the tall boy’s knees slightly weak. It was  _insane_ how much of an effect Eddie had on Richie. His skin instantly got tingly, and he was already breathing harder, his heartbeat picking up faster, and faster. Eddie pulled on Richie’s elbow and turned, so his tall boyfriend was trapped between Eddie’s knees. Their heads were almost the same level which was  _definitely_ an interesting turnaround because Richie now had more of an access to Eddie’s mouth and much less pain in his upper back. Just as his hand landed and squeezed Eddie’s upper thigh, the microwave made a triple sound, and their foreheads met, labored breathing ringing through the kitchen.

Richie chuckled and rubbed the tips of their noses together before walking to get the food out and distribute it into separate plates. When he finally placed everything in front of Eddie, he noticed the prominent blush on his cheeks and couldn’t help but lean in to kiss the softest part of them. Eddie giggled in that  _ridiculously_ adorable way he always does, and Richie’s stomach flipped for a thousandth time that night.

It took them the longest time to eat because they spent most of it talking. They haven’t seen each other for the whole week, both busy with work and exams. Richie had an online tutoring job which he preferred to have been in person, but this allowed him more flexible hours. He had too many projects to work on, and spent most of his time in the engineering lab on the opposite side of campus from Eddie’s work. Richie’s chicken was completely cold by the time he finished telling Eddie about his horrible voice crack during the first project presentation he had.

As soon as they finished eating, Richie stood up to grab their plates, but his boyfriend beat him to it. Eddie placed everything in the sink and went back to get the cups as well. He untucked his white polo and grabbed the sponge to start washing before Richie snatched it away.

“You are  _not_ doing the dishes at my place, this is ridiculous.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and adorably reached for the sponge on his tiptoes, trying to extend twice his height. “Come on! I like doing stuff like this.”

Richie bent down and kissed the tip of Eddie’s nose, but his boyfriend just huffed in annoyance. “Eddie, my love, you work in a café, and you  _just_  had a shift. You’re  _so_ not doing the dishes right now.”

Eddie’s eyes suddenly widened, and his arms dropped to the sides. “Did you just say you love me?”

“What-“

Eddie used Richie’s utter shock to grab the sponge out of his hands, sticking the tongue out playfully. Richie could literally  _feel_ his entire body cover with a bright red flush. He cleared his throat and went to get chocolate milk out of the fridge in an effort to distract himself from the question bouncing inside his head. Was it too early to declare something like that? They’ve only been together for what? Two months?  _Who am I kidding? It’s been exactly sixty-seven days._ But it already felt like Eddie was an enormous part of Richie’s life. He couldn’t last a day without talking to him, knowing how his day went, hearing him giggle or scoff or  _anything. What’s the difference between_ love  _and being_ in-love _anyway?_

“You’re thinking very loud,” said Eddie without turning his head, and Richie realized that he’s been standing by the open fridge door the entire time he’s been having the inner panic monologue. He quickly grabbed the drink and sat down on the counter to the right of Eddie. Their eyes met, and both blushed at the same time. Richie was about to say that he thinks he’s probably ready to say something like that but his phone started loudly vibrating in his pocket, and he quickly pulled it out to see who is calling. A familiar face filled the screen, and he swiped to answer the FaceTime of the caller.

“David, what’s up?”

_“Okay, you will not believe what dad did this morning. Like, he never does shit like this and ma almost literally had a fucking heart attack-“_

“Who is that?” mouthed Eddie when Richie caught his eye.

“David, hold up. I gotta introduce you to someone.”

_“Dude, this better be good.”_

Richie rotated his hand to show Eddie by the sink with his brows slightly furrowed. “David, my boyfriend, Eddie. Eds, this is my brother David.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up, but he smiled earnestly and waved a wet soapy hand to the camera. “Hi.”

_“Hey! Man, how could you fucking forget to tell me you have a boyfriend now?”_ David’s bright blue eyes pixelated as the connection worsened.

“If it makes you feel any better, I had no idea Richie  _had_ a brother either,” said Eddie, shooting his boyfriend a dirty look.

“Hey, stop attacking me, alright? There’s a right time for everything.”

Eddie scoffed. “How do you just  _forget_ to mention that you have a brother?”

_“Yes, Richard, how does that happen?”_

Richie groaned and placed the phone on the counter, the image now showing the ceiling and occasionally Eddie’s hair whipping in the corner as he wiped the surfaces around the sink.

_“Do you still wanna hear the story about dad? Oh! Also, that Game Stop dude was totally checking me out when I went to pick up the new Uncharted game. By the way, how do you even know if the dude is checking you-“_

Eddie suddenly grabbed the phone and bounced out of the kitchen. “Alright, you have to tell me  _all_  the most embarrassing Richie stories.”

Richie could see David’s shit-eating grin, and he quickly jumped off to run after his boyfriend in the living room.

_“Oh! He once peed his pants during a laser-tag game. Literally in the middle of the fucking field-“_

“Hey!” screamed Richie, still trying to catch Eddie who kept hiding behind the couch, stifling laughs.

“More!”

_“Uuuuh, Richie once went to school with like a neck full of hickeys that he made himself with one of those things that make your lips bigger.”_

“You asshole!” Richie reached out while Eddie was too distracted laughing and quickly hung up on David’s satisfied expression.

He instantly plopped down on the couch face-down in embarrassment, smiling slightly from Eddie’s earnest laughter.

“P-please tell me in d-detail about those,” said Eddie between laughs as he still held onto the back of the couch.

Richie reached the arm out with one finger moving back and forth to indicate a ‘no’. Eddie caught the hand and bit the tip of his boyfriend’s finger.

“Ow! You tiny monster!” He pulled his arm back and laid on top of it to avoid another sudden attack.

Eddie giggled and jumped over the back of the couch to lie down parallel to Richie, rubbing the messy hair out of his covered face. “Heeeey, look at me.”

Richie slightly turned his head and saw Eddie’s soft brown eyes, surrounded by precisely thirty-four freckles.

“Your brother looks exactly like you, it’s kind of creepy.”

“He doesn’t have this luscious hair, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Eddie smiled and brushed more hair off to gently touch his boyfriend’s face. Richie instantly melted into it, scooting impossibly closer. “Are you spending Christmas with your parents?”

“Probably. They usually spend New Year’s at their friend’s though so I might join Stanley’s family.”

“What about David?”

“He has a lot of friends - he usually goes to a party.”

Richie turned more sideways to drape an arm over his boyfriend’s waist.

“My dad told me something interesting today.”

“Hm?”

“Apparently he has a boyfriend.”

Richie’s eyes widened in surprise, and he instantly grinned - he knew how much Eddie loved his dad and he would only expect this to be good news. “Eds, that’s so great.”

“Yeah.” Richie’s stomach flipped from Eddie’s wide smile.

“Please tell me you’re spending Christmas with them and not Ursula.”

Eddie laughed and gently pinched Richie’s side. “He invited me today, so I think so.”

“Hey, that’s awesome news. I didn’t know your dad is gay.”

“I don’t think he is. Maybe bi? He never really told me either.”

Richie leaned in to press a soft kiss to Eddie’s lips. All of his unidentified nervousness slowly slipped away, and he snuggled up to his heater of a boyfriend, feeling the exhaustion of the week wrap both of them in a comfy cocoon. Eddie yawned, and Richie instantly knew how tired he really was, because his boyfriend always covered his mouth, and was now too tired to do so. Richie suddenly felt relieved that they were too tired to mess around. Whatever this new fear of intimacy was - he had to figure it out soon. But for now, he was going to enjoy the softness of Eddie’s fingers on his arm, and the light brush of their noses against each other as they drifted off, never making it to the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh I know it's been forever, life has been _insane_  
>  I finally sacrificed an evening to just writing and birthed this  
> I hope this doesn't suck  
> and yes, there are reasons behind Richie's freakout  
> he's allowed to NOT be confident 
> 
> enjoy <3
> 
> tumblr: notsugarandspice


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